Family of Sri Lankan woman who died in custody to sue Japan for footage
The family of Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman who died in 2021 while in immigration custody, plans to sue the Japanese government as early as May, demanding the full release of surveillance footage documenting her detention.
Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday, Wishma’s younger sister, Wayomi, said, “My family and I cannot accept this at all. We have the right to see everything.” The family is seeking to overturn a government decision to withhold portions of the footage, arguing the refusal is unjustified.
Attorney Shoichi Ibusuki, representing the family, told reporters that the government's refusal suggests there may be “inconvenient information for immigration authorities.”
Wishma died at the age of 33 in March 2021 at a facility run by the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau. She had been detained since August 2020 for overstaying her visa, and her condition deteriorated in early 2021, with repeated vomiting in the weeks before her death.
In 2022, the family sued the government in the Nagoya District Court seeking state redress, alleging that authorities failed to provide necessary medical care. The government has so far released about five hours of surveillance footage out of a total 295 hours recorded prior to her death. That footage was submitted as evidence in the ongoing civil case.
According to the family’s legal team, a separate request was made in February to disclose the entire archive of video footage. But on March 26, immigration authorities rejected the request, saying the footage contained information on “security and safety measures” and its release could “threaten public order.”
The family plans to file a suit with the Tokyo District Court, seeking to overturn the nondisclosure decision.
Translated by The Japan Times
