The Tokyo District Court on Thursday awarded 2.2 million yen in damages to two Tunisians who were assaulted by security guards while being held in detention at Narita International Airport.

The plaintiffs, Thameur Hichem and Thameur Mouez, were denied entry when they arrived at Narita airport in June 2000.

The ruling said three security guards smashed them against a wall and also extorted $600 (66,000 yen) from them. The plaintiffs had sought 7.2 million yen in damages.

The court ordered the three security guards and the firm I'M Co., which hired them, as well as the company president to pay damages.

However, Presiding Judge Takaomi Takizawa did not accept that the central government or the airline on which the two men flew were responsible for the men's ordeal.

The court said the security guards demanded the plaintiffs each hand over $300 to cover the cost of food and accommodation while they were being held. When the men refused, the money was forcibly taken from them.

The men arrived at Narita airport with tourist visas. Immigration officers refused them entry because they had no reserved accommodation.

The men were then put in detention. They filed their suit in August 2001.

``We are not happy the court denied the government's responsibility because it is the government that should be held responsible,'' the plaintiffs' attorney, Koichi Kodama, said.

Airlines are required by law to repatriate detainees refused entry to their home countries.

The human rights watchdog group Amnesty International took up the case in its 2001 annual report, which criticized Japanese immigration authorities for taking no measures to avoid brutality.(IHT/Asahi: October 15,2004) (10/15)