A Tokyo court on Thursday ordered the Japanese government to pay ¥220,000 ($1,600) in damages to a Kurdish man who alleged he was assaulted when staff at a detention center where he was being held in 2019 forcibly restrained him.
The Tokyo District Court ruled that some actions by staff at the immigration center in Ibaraki Prefecture were illegal, such as when a staff member used their thumb to push hard under his chin and when his arms were lifted while he was handcuffed behind his back.
"They were illegal, as such actions exceeded what was deemed reasonably necessary," presiding Judge Kenji Shinoda said. But the court ruled that isolating the 44-year-old, known only as Deniz, was lawful due to his state of agitation.