Japan seeks humane treatment through diplomatic channels after Japanese reporter detained in Russia

【Financial News, Tokyo—Correspondent Seo Hye-jin】With Russia having detained a Hokkaido Shimbun reporter on suspicion of espionage, the Japanese government has called for information and humane treatment through diplomatic channels. The government reportedly learned of the detention only after Russian authorities announced it and has not yet been able to contact the reporter. 
According to the Nikkei and the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 14th, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu said that day at the House of Representatives Budget Committee, “We are requesting information while also calling for humane consideration and fair and equitable treatment.” He said Japan was checking on the reporter’s safety and the circumstances of the detention through the Japanese Embassy in Russia and the Consulate-General in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
Motegi said, “We will do everything possible to protect Japanese nationals through necessary measures, including making further requests to Russia.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara also said at a press conference that day that Japan had conveyed its requests to Russia through diplomatic channels the previous day. He said the government had not yet been able to contact the reporter and added that it learned of the case only after receiving Russia’s announcement.
Kihara said, “Even amid difficult Japan-Russia relations, we have responded firmly in accordance with Japan’s position,” adding that the two countries needed to maintain communication to resolve the issue.
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) announced the previous day that it had detained on suspicion of espionage a male reporter in his 30s working for Hokkaido Shimbun’s Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk bureau.
Citing the TASS news agency, Hokkaido Shimbun reported that the reporter had been scheduled to leave the country on the 13th but was apprehended at a hotel in downtown Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. He was subsequently transferred to Moscow, and a local court approved his detention for about two months, until December 12.
The FSB claimed that the reporter had investigated people on the Kuril Islands who were mobilized or volunteered to fight in the war in Ukraine, and that he had gathered information on Russia’s defense capabilities at the direction of a Japanese intelligence agency. However, it released no specific evidence to support the allegations.
Hokkaido Shimbun said the reporter had worked in Russia, including in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Sakhalin Oblast, on a journalist visa. He had also received reporting accreditation from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian side also released footage showing masked FSB agents transferring the reporter, as well as footage that appeared to show a search of the bureau. 
The Nikkei noted that the case resembled that of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter detained in Russia in 2023. Gershkovich was also arrested on suspicion of espionage while reporting on military production and transferred to Moscow, where a court initially ordered him detained for two months.
The U.S. government, the WSJ and the reporter himself denied the allegations, but his detention was repeatedly extended. He was released in August 2024 in a prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia after spending 16 months in prison.
Russia has previously used detained foreign nationals in political deals, but the specific purpose of detaining the Japanese reporter has not been established. A person convicted of espionage in Russia can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

[email protected] Seo Hye-jin Reporter