Nearly six years after he was deported, an Iranian man has returned to Japan to testify in court for his damages suit against the state.
Amjadi Khorasani Mohammad Mehdi, 56, testified Tuesday at the Tokyo District Court that he was beaten and kicked by several immigration officers in the detention center in Tokyo's Kita Ward on May 6, 1993.
Soon after he filed the suit in October 1994, claiming he suffered broken vertebrae and other injuries from the alleged assault, he was deported to Iran.
At the Tuesday session, Amjadi described in detail through an interpreter how he was attacked by a number of officers after a clash between some Iranians and officers at the detention house, which was reportedly triggered by violence against one detainee.
Sitting in a larger-than-ordinary witness chair provided after he complained of pain in his waist, Amjadi said he was kept in what was referred to as "special room" for about two weeks with his hands cuffed behind his back. He said he was put there after suffering injuries to various parts of his body.
The immigration authorities contended that he hurt himself when he fell in a bathroom.
Amjadi was able to travel from Tehran thanks to several Japanese supporters, who also arranged for a Persian interpreter for him during Tuesday's session.
Tsuyoshi Inaba, a cram school teacher and a member of the group supporting Amjadi, said the supporters collected about 200,000 yen from the public to cover his flight ticket and accommodation here.
Referring to Amjadi's arrest and detention in 1993 on charges of selling food without a proper visa, Inaba said Amjadi's case illustrates Japan's tendency to see foreign laborers as merely a convenient workforce.
"The case also symbolically represents (Japanese people's) prejudice against foreigners from Asia," he said, explaining his reason for supporting Amjadi.