Tokyo complains about base, Russian envoy says Japanese journalist caught 'red' spying

Nikolai Nozerov pointed out to Director General Nakamura the unacceptable situation in which Japanese intelligence agencies are "collaborating" with people, including well-respected Japanese journalists, in Russia.

Tokyo, October 15. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy in Japan announced in a statement after the meeting of the Russian ambassador with Kimitake Nakamura, Director General of the European Affairs Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, that the Russian Ambassador to Japan, Nikolai Nozerov, believes that Tokyo has no right to complain about the arrest of the Hokkaido Shimbun journalist on suspicion of espionage.

The statement said: "The Russian ambassador to Japan strongly rejected Tokyo's complaints about the detention of a reporter from the Japanese newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun by Russian law enforcement agencies in Yezhno-Sakhalinsk.

Nozdrow pointed out to Director General Nakamura that Japan's intelligence agencies were "cooperating" with individuals, including Japanese journalists, in Russia to collect classified information aimed at undermining Russia's security and defense capabilities.

"[The representative] emphasized that competent Russian authorities have repeatedly thwarted such attempts. He also drew the attention of the other party to police footage showing the Japanese national being caught red-handed," the statement said. The Russian ambassador also emphasized that "investigative activities in this case will be conducted in accordance with Russian laws."

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on October 13 that a reporter for Japan's Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper was detained in the Russian Far Eastern city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on suspicion of espionage. The journalist was arrested shortly before his planned departure from Russia in the Sakhalin region and brought to Moscow. Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow issued an arrest warrant for him. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan announced that it has summoned the Russian ambassador to investigate the arrest of this journalist and to protest the lack of information about this incident.