[Request for additional support]

Dear Supporters

We would like to express our deep gratitude for the support we have received thus far.

As we have told you, in the lawsuit claiming state compensation for the responsibility of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the national government that caused Arjun's death due to the illegal use of restraints while in custody, a judgment was made on March 17, 2023, and the Tokyo District The court accepted the city's liability.

However, the amount of compensation recognized by the Tokyo District Court was extremely low at 1,000,000 yen, strictly applying Article 6 of the National Compensation Law (the principle of mutual guarantee). I have to say that it is a questionable decision.

Therefore, the plaintiff Ambika (wife of the late Arjun) and her legal team filed an appeal to the Tokyo High Court on March 28, 2023.

In this case, the investigation started immediately after Mr. Arjun passed away on March 15, 2017, and the lawsuit was filed in 2018, and it took more than five years to reach the verdict.

The support we have received so far has been used for expenses such as the preparation of a doctor's opinion, which is essential for proving the cause of death, but it has not yet been able to cover other attorney's fees.

In the appellate court, expenses for preparing a researcher's opinion on the state reparation law, inviting Ms. Ambika as a witness, and litigation expenses for the appeal are expected.

Therefore, we would be very grateful for your further support in the appeal, and we ask for your additional support.

In this case, Mr. Arjun, who did not resist, was placed in a protection room, and despite the fact that the requirement for wearing a restraining device was not recognized, he casually put on a restraining device, obstructing the blood flow of Mr. Arjun, leading to death. That would be a very bad case.

At the site of police detention work, illegal restraint wearing acts after detaining in such a protection room are rampant, and in December 2022, Aichi Prefecture Okazaki Police Station and Osaka Prefecture Naniwa Police Station There has been a series of fatal incidents due to the wearing of protective equipment after being placed in a protection room.

In this case, wearing restraints after confinement in a protection room is in principle illegal, restraints (especially belt handcuffs) have the risk of impeding blood flow and causing death, and strict rules are required for their use. It can be said that the trial has the significance of spreading the recognition in society that it is necessary to establish a system and promoting fundamental improvements in the detention work of the police. In addition, from the perspective of international human rights protection, we would like to clarify the problems of Article 6 of the State Reparations Law (the principle of mutual guarantee), and seek judgment on its unconstitutionality and violation of treaties.

I would like to ask for your continued support and cooperation regarding this lawsuit, which has such significance.

The target amount is 2 million yen.

◼Overview of the case

On March 15, 2017, during the interrogation by the prosecutor, which began with handcuffs on both hands, as soon as one of the handcuffs was removed, the eyes of a Nepalese man suddenly turned white, fell unconscious, and died a suspicious death. On July 27, 2018, the bereaved family filed a state compensation claim for the man's death due to improper restraint and release methods.

A 39-year-old Nepali man was arrested on March 13, 2017 for possessing a credit card in someone else's name that he had found. According to the police, at 6:30 in the early morning of March 15, when the detention staff warned him not to follow the detention house's rule of putting away his futon by himself, he went on a rampage in the detention center, and was restrained by staff, handcuffed with a belt, and arrested with a rope. I was put in a "protection room" with my wrists, hips, knees, and ankles tied.

After that, he was placed in a wheelchair while physically restrained with handcuffs and arresting ropes, and transferred to the public prosecutor's office for interrogation by the prosecutor. During the interrogation, when the handcuffs on one hand were removed under the direction of the prosecutor, Arjun suddenly rolled the white of his eyes and fell unconscious. At the request of the bereaved family and supporters who learned of the incident, the defense team and forensic scientists began an investigation to clarify the truth behind the suspicious death.

On March 9, 2018, the police explained to the defense team as follows. “According to the autopsy, the cause of Arjun's death was multiple trauma caused by the action of an external force. I have sent him." After that, the prosecutor's office, which received the transfer, decided not to indict him on March 14.

At the request of Arjun's bereaved family, a team of lawyers and forensic scientists conducted an investigation. As a result, it was strongly suspected that the police and prosecutors were involved in Arjun's sudden death. I was. The bereaved family hopes that the truth of the case will be revealed through the trial. On July 27, 2018, we filed a lawsuit claiming state compensation against the defendant country and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

◼ Arjun, Nepal and Japan

Arjun started in Japan around 2011. As a chef at an Indian/Nepalese curry restaurant, I entered the country with a status of residence of “skilled worker” and worked at restaurants in various places. In April 2016, he temporarily returned to Nepal and returned to Japan in November of the same year. I worked at a restaurant in Saitama from December to January of the following year. However, in February 2017, he was fired from the store and started wandering in search of work. Unable to find work, he reportedly wandered the streets of Shinjuku and Okubo shortly before his arrest. In fact, at a Nepalese restaurant in Okubo, I testify that Mr. Arjun often came to eat.

After that, it seems that he could not find a job, and according to the police, he had only 22 yen and a notebook at the time of his arrest.

Arjun's visit to Japan is related to the decline of Japan's traditional food service industry. It is said that family restaurants and fast food appeared in Japan in the 1970s. There was a trend to provide cheap meals, but of course, until then, the management of shops that offered ``store food'' and ``traditional Chinese restaurants'' in each town was under pressure, and gradually disappeared. will be erased. This is thought to have created business opportunities for Indian restaurants run by Indians and Chinese restaurants run by Chinese in various parts of Japan. At first, Nepalese were employed as workers of Indian restaurants run by Indians, but after that many Nepalese managers appeared, and the workers working there were Nepalese who were allowed to stay with the status of residence "skilled labor". is. Around 2017, when the Arjun incident occurred, there was an oversupply in some areas, and some people were forced to close stores and lose their jobs.

Arjun's case was based on this background of Japanese society.

◼ Use of funds (donations)

・Litigation costs (Actual costs essential for filing a lawsuit, such as attorney fees, stamps, and postage stamps)

・Necessary expenses (transportation expenses, meeting expenses, etc.)

・Survey costs (field survey, various costs for collecting materials, translation costs, etc.)

・ Expenses for inviting the bereaved family to Japan (travel expenses, accommodation expenses)

・Researcher's Opinion Fee

・Publicity expenses

◼Introduction of defense team members (partial)

Ryutaro Ogawa <br>Lawyer (Tokyo Kyodo Law Office, Tokyo Bar Association)
http://www.tokyokyodo-law.com/
Deputy Director of the NPO Human Rights Now Secretariat Director of the Japan International Volunteer Center other

Motohito Kawakami <br>Lawyer (Waseda Legal Commons Law Office, Tokyo Bar Association)
https://legalcommons.jp/
Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (assigned to Niger), Registered as a lawyer (68th term) after working for Ashinaga Scholarship Foundation
Executive secretary and deputy secretary general of the Japan Labor Lawyers Association Secretariat of Citizens' Conference on Traffic Safety and Labor Lawyer of Uber Eats Union, Rakuten Union, etc.

Yuichi Kaito <br>Lawyer (Tokyo Kyodo Law Office, Daini Tokyo Bar Association)
http://www.tokyokyodo-law.com/
He has worked on various assault cases by public authorities in detention facilities and nuclear power lawsuits.
Representative of the Human Rights Center for Prisons Member of Pollution Countermeasures and Environmental Conservation Committee