Regarding the release of a video by lawyers for the family of a Sri Lankan woman who died at an immigration facility showing the detained woman's deteriorating physical condition, Justice Minister Saito said, "The video was edited by the plaintiffs without permission and released to the media."
Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan national who was detained at a facility of the Nagoya Immigration Bureau, died complaining of poor health, and the bereaved family filed a lawsuit against the government for compensation, claiming that she "did not provide necessary medical care," and the government is asking that the lawsuit be dismissed, saying that the response is not illegal.
On June 6, the lawyers for the bereaved family released to the media about five minutes of the approximately five hours of footage of Wishma's detention that the government had submitted as evidence.
Regarding this, Minister of Justice Saito stated at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, "The plaintiffs edited a part of the approximately five hours of video footage that is to be examined by the court without permission and provided it to the media for publication."
He then stated, "I would like to basically refrain from expressing my impressions as Minister of Justice in individual cases where litigation is ongoing, in view of the impact on the judiciary, but I hope that you will think carefully about this matter."
Approximately five hours of footage will be shown in court in June at the request of the bereaved families, but the bereaved families and their lawyers referred to the proposed amendments to the Immigration Control Act and other laws that have been submitted to the Diet to review the way foreigners are detained, saying, "In order to appropriately discuss the detention system, We thought it was necessary to let people know the reality of the detention."