An Iranian man who was incarcerated at Fuchu prison has filed a 15 million yen damages suit against the national government, claiming that guards in the western Tokyo facility mistreated him, his lawyers said Sept. 17.
Bahman Daneshian Far, 31, filed the suit with the Tokyo District Court on Aug. 29. According to the lawsuit, Far was imprisoned in October 1993 after being sentenced to four years for assaulting fellow Iranians over a work-related dispute.
His lawyers said that Far was slapped on the face and one of his ears in April 1994 after refusing to bow to prison officials, and he was made to wear leather handcuffs that were tightened to inflict pain. In addition, he was allegedly confined in a special solitary cell from October 1995 to July 1996 alongside two mentally ill prisoners who kept shouting and pounding their heads against the walls. His attorneys made further allegations that prison officials falsely claimed that Far was insane and made up a story that he had swallowed a razor.
Far’s suit is the fourth in a series of lawsuits over alleged inmate abuse by Fuchu prison officials. The others, filed by Kevin Neal Mara of the United States and two Japanese inmates, are pending at the Tokyo District Court. Far was released from the prison in January and is now awaiting deportation at a detention facility in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture. His lawyers expressed hope that Far will be summoned to the court to testify about the ordeal before he is expelled from the country.
