Russia denies Japan consular access to journalist Yuki Imai
Japanese officials sought contact in Moscow after the Hokkaido Shimbun correspondent’s October 14 arrest. A court has ordered him held until at least December 12.
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Japanese officials sought contact in Moscow after the Hokkaido Shimbun correspondent’s October 14 arrest. A court has ordered him held until at least December 12.
Russian authorities have refused Japanese embassy officials access to journalist Yuki Imai, who is being held in Moscow on espionage allegations, DW reported on October 23. Japan’s Foreign Ministry officials were in Moscow that week trying to contact him.
Russia’s FSB security service arrested the Hokkaido Shimbun correspondent on October 14 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island in Russia’s far east. Authorities then transferred him to Lefortovo Prison in Moscow.
Russian authorities accuse Imai of attempting to obtain information about soldiers in the region. Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, condemned his arrest and rejected the allegation that he was a spy.
Russia’s ambassador to Japan, Nikolay Nozdrev, said Imai had been caught “red-handed,” according to TASS, as cited by DW. Nozdrev also alleged that Japanese intelligence agencies use journalists to gather classified information to undermine Russia’s security and defence capability.
The International Federation of Journalists has called for Imai’s immediate release. According to the federation, the 34-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The arrest comes amid a long-running territorial dispute over islands near the region where Imai was detained. Japan calls the disputed islands the Northern Territories; Russia calls them the Southern Kurils.
Stephen Nagy, an international relations professor at Tokyo’s International Christian University, suggested to DW that Russia might seek to exchange Imai for Russian nationals detained overseas. Nagy predicted Japan would resist because an exchange could encourage similar detentions. His remarks describe a possible motive, not an announced exchange proposal.
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A Russian court has ordered Imai held in pretrial detention—custody while the case proceeds—until at least December 12.
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