SAPPORO – A Japanese newspaper whose reporter has been detained in Russia on spying allegations denied on Oct 16 Moscow’s claim that he was acting under instructions from Japanese intelligence agencies and vowed to make every effort to secure his early release.
“The Hokkaido Shimbun is a news organisation independent of the government. We do not conduct reporting or gather information based on government directions,” the newspaper’s chief editor Takeshi Yamamoto said in a statement published in its Oct 16 morning edition.
Russia’s security agency, the FSB, announced on Oct 13 the detention of the journalist in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the capital of the Sakhalin region that borders Hokkaido in northern Japan.
Noting that the reporter had a Russian journalist visa, Yamamoto said that “freedom of the press and reporting activities should be respected”, while slamming the Russian side’s release of footage of the detention as unacceptable.
The Hokkaido Shimbun is known for its extensive coverage of issues related to disputed islands off Hokkaido, which were seized from Japan at the end of World War II.
Yamamoto said that the newspaper has reported from Russia for many years, adding that “conveying information from a neighbouring country’s frontlines means conveying ‘regional’ information for us”.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference on Oct 16 that Russia issued a consular notification on Oct 15 local time regarding the journalist’s detention. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations requires authorities to notify a foreign national’s embassy or consulate when they are arrested or detained.
Kihara stressed that the government would “make every effort to arrange a consular visit as soon as possible to confirm his health and circumstances”.
Later on Oct 16, a Japanese government source said efforts the same day by the Japanese Embassy in Moscow to secure a meeting between its consuls and the reporter at a detention facility in eastern Moscow were unsuccessful. No meeting is likely to be arranged until at least next week, according to the source.
Shiro Nakamura, chairperson of the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association, said on Oct 16 at an event that freedom of news gathering and reporting must be respected and must not be hindered, demanding the release of the journalist as soon as possible.
The Japan P.E.N. Club, headed by novelist Natsuo Kirino, issued a statement on Oct 16 calling for the immediate release of the journalist.
“In every country and region, journalists must be guaranteed the freedom to conduct interviews and report the news, as well as their personal safety,” the statement said. KYODO NEWS
AloJapan.com