“Protest over Mizuho Umemura’s Remarks on Wishma Sandamari’s Death”

In 2021, at the Nagoya Immigration Bureau, Mizuho Umemura, a member of the Japan Restoration Party’s House of Councilors, gave advice to supporters regarding the death of Wishma Sandamari, a Sri Lankan woman (33 years old at the time). The bereaved family and lawyers held a press conference in Tokyo on the 17th, protesting that “the fraudulent illness is groundless,” and demanded an apology and retraction of the remarks.

Wishma’s younger sister Polnima, 28, said, “Please don’t hurt my sister’s dignity until after her death.” Her other sister, Wayomi, 30, also said, “In the released recording, her sister spent a long timeVomit（father）Repeatedly, I fell from the bed to the cold floor, but I could not get back. Who could look at that video and suspect that her sister was pretending to be sick? sad,” she said.

At a plenary session of the House of Councilors on the 12th, Umemura said, “One of the supporters’ words may have given Wishma a faint hope that she could be released on parole if she fell ill, leading to the possibility of being pointed out as a fraudulent illness. I cannot deny it,” he said. At the House of Councilors Judicial Committee on the 16th, he said, “Maybe he died because of the hunger strike.” (Shinichi Ikeo)