A lawyer for a suspect in police custody in Nagoya has asked for the man's temporary release, claiming his continued detention and denial of treatment after being infected with the coronavirus constitutes a "human rights violation."
The request filed Tuesday with the Nagoya District Court concerns a 47-year-old man who was arrested earlier this month over a gambling-related case. After testing positive for the virus, he has been kept in a police detention center used as a quarantine facility for COVID-19 patients.
The lawyer is demanding that the suspect be released temporarily and sent to a facility such as a hotel to isolate, given that the lawyer has been informed no treatment or medication would be provided in detention unless the man develops severe symptoms, such as pneumonia.
"It's our understanding that we are taking proper anti-infection measures at the instruction of a public health center," an Aichi prefectural police official said, adding that detainees will "see a doctor as needed if their symptoms worsen."
According to the lawyer, the man was arrested on July 13 for allegedly selling "points" used in online casinos, and a court approved his detention at a police station the following day.
The suspect developed a fever on Monday and subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus. He was later transferred to the police detention facility for infected detainees, the lawyer said.
According to the lawyer's court plea and accompanying statement, the suspect has been paired with another patient in a tiny cell, leaving him "extremely anxious as his cellmate is just lying on a mattress."
Japan is currently experiencing a seventh wave of coronavirus infections, making an increase in new infections among suspects and defendants in police and other custody more likely.
