An Iraqi refugee had appeared in court earlier that day.
Milad Aljabiri, 24, had appeared in Burwood Local Court in the morning on two charges, common assault and affray. He had pleaded not guilty to both offences.
Following the hearing, he was returned to Villawood where fellow detainees reported he met with his caseworker before returning to his room.
“The day of court he wasn’t too happy, he was stressing out and scared,” one Villawood detainee who did not wish to be named told SBS News via a translator.
“Milad was worried about going back, about being deported.”
Villawood Detention Centre in Western Sydney. Source: AAP
His next court hearing had been scheduled for 19 March.
An Australian Border Force spokesperson told SBS News the death had been referred for investigation by the NSW Coroner and other “appropriate agencies”.
“All detainees receive appropriate medical and mental health care. We have a range of health services available including psychiatry, psychology and counselling services,” they said in a statement.
"We express our condolences to the man’s family and friends."
“As this matter will be subject to ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
Mr Aljabiri’s cousin, Murtadha Ebadi, said he had previously said he was depressed.
“I don’t know what they told him to push him to that level,” he said.
“His father and his mother, they just ask for his body.”
According to community member and refugee advocate Jamal Daoud, Mr Aljabiri arrived in Australia by boat in 2010. He said he was released in 2011 on a permanent protection visa after protesting on the roof of Villawood detention centre.
SBS News understands that Mr Aljabiri had spent time in jail prior to Monday's hearing.
According to refugee rights groups, - just three days after Mr Aljabiri’s death.
The 27-year-old Afghan man was found in the high-security Blaxland compound of the Western Sydney centre, the Refugee Action Coalition said.
The incidents come less than six weeks after .
On Monday, refugee advocate Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition called for an “urgent independent inquiry into immigration detention”.
The family held a community memorial for Mr Aljabiri on Thursday and will gather at a prayer hall in Fairfield on Friday.
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