State ordered to pay damages to family of inmate killed by guards

The Kyoto District Court ordered the state Thursday to pay about 39 million yen in damages to the family of an inmate who died as a result of abuse by guards at Nagoya Prison in Aichi Prefecture in December 2001.

According to the ruling, three guards sprayed water using a fire-fighting hose into the rectum of the 43-year-old inmate, inflicting severe injuries which caused him to die from bacterial shock. The three guards have been found guilty by the Nagoya District Court of violent acts by special public officials resulting in death. Two of them have appealed.