Reply To:
Name - Reply Comment
Party suspends Japan lawmaker for remarks on Sri Lankan who died in immigration detention
Japan's opposition Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) announced on May 26 that it had suspended Mizuho Umemura, a member of the House of Councillors, for six months for making inappropriate remarks regarding Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman who died in detention at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau in 2021.
Nippon Ishin Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita stated at a press conference that Umemura's comments about Wishma, who was 33 when she died of an illness, were "an act that deviates from (the party's) governance."
Umemura said in a May 12 plenary session of the upper house, "We cannot deny that a comment made by a supporter may have given Wishma the faint hope that she could be temporarily released if she became ill, leading to a situation where doctors cited the possibility that she was not really sick." At a subsequent meeting of the upper house's Committee of Judicial Affairs on May 16, she said Wishma "may have died from poor health caused by a hunger strike."
Wishma's family protested that the statements were "falsehoods with no basis in fact," and Nippon Ishin's executive committee told Umemura to refrain from making similar statements. However, she indicated on May 18 that she would not retract her comments, saying that she had grounds for making them.(The Mainichi)
Comments - 7
Recommended
You May Also Like
Trending
