The government is getting ready to appeal a district court ruling ordering it to pay damages to a group of Hansen's disease patients in Taiwan who were forced to live in a sanitarium during Japan's colonial rule of the island, sources said Saturday.
The deadline for filing the appeal is Tuesday.
The Taiwanese plaintiffs won their case in the Tokyo District Court on Oct. 25, but that same day a group of South Korean Hansen's disease patients lost their trial at the same court.
The South Korean plaintiffs have appealed to the Tokyo High Court.
According to the sources, the government is taking the unsuccessful lawsuit seriously because the ruling pointed out that it was unfair to exclude those who had been isolated overseas from compensation. The government is also taking into consideration the fact that the plaintiffs are getting old, they added.
Therefore, it is highly likely the government will seek early relief for both groups of plaintiffs, even after it appeals the district court ruling to the high court, the sources suggested.
In the ruling on the South Korean's suit, the district court said people segregated in sanitariums overseas were not eligible to compensation under the Hansen's disease compensation law.
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