Russian detainment of Japan reporter passes 1 month

Detailed summary

Friday marks one month since a Russian security agency detained Hokkaido Shimbun Press reporter Imai Yuki. Japan plans to continue supporting him while strongly urging Russia to…

Friday marks one month since a Russian security agency detained Hokkaido Shimbun Press reporter Imai Yuki. Japan plans to continue supporting him while strongly urging Russia to release him immediately.

Russia's Federal Security Service took Imai in on October 13 in the Far Eastern region of Sakhalin on suspicion of espionage.

The director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's European Affairs Bureau, Nakamura Kimitake, pressed the Russian foreign ministry to allow Japanese consular access to Imai.

Staff from the Japanese Embassy in Moscow met him on October 26. The officials confirmed that the 34-year-old journalist has no health issues.

Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in the United States on October 30. Motegi strongly called on Russia to free Imai promptly and treat him humanely, fairly and justly.

Japanese Ambassador to Russia Muto Akira also called for the immediate release of the journalist when the envoy met a senior Russian foreign ministry official.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a news conference on November 5 that developments regarding Imai would depend on the results of an investigation.

Opening of the article, excerpted from NHK World. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.