Japan Holds Consular Visit with Journalist Detained in Russia, Foreign Ministry Says Health is Fine

It has been confirmed that a journalist from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, who is detained in Russia on espionage charges, is in good health.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NHK on October 27, an official from the Japanese Embassy in Russia visited the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow where the journalist is being held to conduct a consular visit.

This was the first consular visit in 13 days since the detention.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a press statement saying, "Through the consular visit, we confirmed that there are no problems with the detained journalist's health."

It added, "We will continue to strongly urge the Russian government for the immediate release, humanitarian consideration, and fair and equitable treatment of the Japanese citizen," emphasizing that it will do its utmost to protect overseas nationals.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has previously emphasized that the Japanese government has never engaged in espionage activities in Russia.

Earlier, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) detained a male journalist from the Hokkaido Shimbun on espionage charges in the Far Eastern Sakhalin Oblast on October 13.

Since then, the Japanese government has continuously demanded that the Russian side permit a consular visit as stipulated in bilateral treaties.

The Lefortovo detention center where the journalist is held is one of the top-secret facilities located in Moscow, formerly run by the Soviet-era KGB and currently overseen by the FSB.

This detention center is also where Nobel Prize-winning dissident writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was once imprisoned.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.