TOKYO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese court ordered the state on Thursday to pay 100,000 yen (734 U.S. dollars) in damages to a Brazilian man for being injured when he was forcibly restrained at an immigration facility in Tokyo in 2018.
The physical restraint used by immigration officials on the detainee was ruled unlawful by the Tokyo District Court.
Andre Kussunoki was hurt while resisting his transfer to a different immigration facility. He had sued the Japanese government, saying the physical restraint was unnecessary.
In revealing the ruling, Presiding Judge Ryota Shimozawa said the damages was "appropriate" in light of the dangers that such restraint can cause, the fear felt by the plaintiff and "humiliation he felt at not being respected as a human being."
The 35-year-old plaintiff filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking 5 million yen (36,700 dollars) in compensation.
He said that the restraint used by the officials to forcibly make a transfer amounted to assault.
Kussunoki locked himself in a toilet at the immigration facility where he was held as he refused the transfer order. The officials forcibly removed him from the toilet and pushed his head onto the ground for about eight minutes.
The Immigration Services Agency of Japan said it will take "appropriate measures" after thoroughly examining the ruling. ■