Leprosy patients applaud ruling of Japanese court

Taiwanese leprosy patients yesterday welcomed a Tokyo District Court ruling in favor of their suit seeking compensation from the Japanese government for segregating them during Japan's colonial rule over the nation.

"I have been waiting for this for half a century," Chen Shih-shih (陳石獅), 83, told a news conference after the ruling.

Chen, a leprosy patient, was locked up in the Lo Sheng Sanatorium near Taipei in 1942 and has been living there ever since, even though he can move out since the segregation ended when Japan stopped ruling Taiwan in 1945.

Lee Sheng-hsiung (李勝雄), a defense lawyer for Taiwanese leprosy patients, called the Tokyo District Court's ruling a victory for the campaign for the rights of leprosy patients.

He urged the Taiwanese government to review its policy towards leprosy patients and launch an awareness campaign to respect them.

A total of 117 South Korean and 25 Taiwanese leprosy patients filed separate suits with the Tokyo District Court to demand compensation from the Japanese government for segregating them.

Yesterday morning, the Tokyo District Court ruled against the South Korean case but in favor of the Taiwanese case.