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       Wishma Sandamali's younger sister Poornima is seen calling for the full release of footage depicting the final days of the Sri Lankan's life in detention at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau, at a press conference held in the Members' Office Building of the House of Councillors on Oct. 5, 2021. (Mainichi/Katsuyuki Uchibayashi)

       TOKYO -- The bereaved family of Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan national who died in March aged 33 while in detention at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau, announced at an Oct. 5 Tokyo press conference that they intend to launch a suit for damages against the national government.

       Before the filing, the bereaved family and others confirmed the contents of part of footage of Wishma before her death that was captured by a security camera inside the regional services bureau as part of procedures to preserve evidence.

       According to the family's lawyers, the Nagoya District Court decided to preserve the footage as evidence in September. At the court on Oct. 1, Wishma's family confirmed part of the contents of the footage with representatives for the national government and the court. In all, about 295 hours of footage exists. The portions viewed on Oct. 1 included images of Wishma just before her death and how she appeared on the day she died.

       Lawyer Chie Komai is seen holding a sketch depicting how Wishma Sandamali was attended to by staff at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau while she ate, in this image taken at a press conference in the Members' Office Building of the House of Councillors on Oct. 5, 2021. (Mainichi/Katsuyuki Uchibayashi)

       Wishma's younger sister Poornima said at the press conference, "We thought she could have been saved if an ambulance had been called. We strongly felt there are things not written in the final report."

       The Immigration Services Agency of Japan edited the footage into about 2 hours that was released to the bereaved family, but it has not cooperated with calls to make all of the images available.

       The bereaved family wants to reveal the truth about Wishma's death through the trial, and make clear the national government's responsibility. Koichi Kodama, one of the lawyers on the team, said regarding the suit that, "We want to try and launch it as quickly as possible."

       (Japanese original by Masakatsu Yamamoto, Tokyo City News Department; Video by Yoshiya Goto, Photo Group)

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