OMM Newsroom
Japan on Tuesday urged Russia to immediately release a Japanese journalist detained on suspicion of espionage, Kyodo News reported, according to Anadolu Agency.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi demanded the journalist’s release and called the denial of consular access regrettable, Kyodo reported.
Motegi said a treaty provides for consular access within four days of a person being taken into custody.
Last week, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused a correspondent at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk bureau of Japanese newspaper “Hokkaido Shimbun” of collecting and storing information on Russia’s defence capabilities for Japanese intelligence. The FSB alleged the information could be used against Russia’s security.
The FSB said it had opened a criminal case against the journalist. Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court ordered his arrest pending the investigation.
Relations between Japan and Russia have deteriorated sharply since Moscow launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022, prompting Tokyo to impose sanctions on Russia.
