Japan visits journalist arrested in Russia on charges of espionage

O japan government reported that officials from its embassy in Moscow had a first consular visit to the journalist arrested two weeks ago in Russia on charges of espionage and demanded “immediate” release.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed through a statement that officials of the Japanese diplomatic delegation held a consular meeting in Moscow this Monday with the reporter arrested in Sakhalin and subsequently transferred to the Russian capital, and indicated that he has no health problems.

After confirmation, the spokesperson for the Japanese Government, Minoru Kihara, said today that from now on Tokyo will continue to “take advantage of several opportunities to firmly demand that the Russian side be released immediately”.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced in mid-October the arrest of a Japanese journalist from the newspaper “Hokkaido Shimbun”, when he was in Sakhalin (Extreme Russian East), on charges of espionage.

The Japanese Government called the following day the Russian ambassador to Tokyo, Nikolai Nozdrev, and has since asked for a “quick” grant of a consular visit within the framework of the treaty between both countries on this matter, which sets a legal deadline of four days for the first such meeting.

The incident was confirmed at a time of great diplomatic tension between Tokyo and Moscow following the first visit last August by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the island of Iturup (Etorofu, Japan) in the Southern Curil Islands, a territory claimed by Tokyo.

The visit in question led to the condemnation of the Japanese authorities and an exchange of accusations with the Russian Government, which worsened the deterioration of relations between both countries, which has continued since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.