OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court has rejected an appeal by a local day laborer who charged that he was illegally detained and beaten by Osaka police following a 1992 riot in Nishinari Ward.
Shinichi Mitomo was seeking 1.2 million yen in damages from Osaka Prefecture for bodily harm he allegedly suffered after his arrest Oct. 3, 1992, following clashes between police and laborers. Mitomo's original suit, filed in 1993, was turned down. He appealed to the high court in 1995. In both, he insisted that his arrest and detainment were illegal and that he was beaten by Nishinari police while in detention.
In upholding the lower court's rejection, the Osaka High Court said there was no indication that Mitomo's arrest was illegal and that, given the confusion and scale of the riot, it was unclear whether his injuries were caused by police during questioning or were sustained during the riot itself. The riot erupted following the termination of government payments at a welfare center in Nishinari Ward, when about 200 laborers skirmished with nearly 2,500 police officers.