Tokyo, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)–Officials of the Japanese Embassy in Russia have been unable to meet with a Japanese newspaper reporter detained by Russian authorities on suspicion of espionage. An embassy official did not disclose why the meeting did not take place but said, “We will continue to urge the Russian side to arrange consular access to the reporter as soon as possible.” According to informed sources, the officials and others visited the Lefortovo detention center in eastern Moscow on Friday after coordinating with the Russian side in advance. They have been unable to contact the reporter or confirm his health condition. On Tuesday, Russia’s Federal Security Service announced that it had detained the male reporter from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper’s bureau in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Russia’s Far East. The reporter was transferred to Moscow. A local court has approved his detention for two months. Japan’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdrev and lodged a protest, calling on Russia to promptly arrange consular access to the reporter. On Thursday, the Russian Embassy in Japan said Nozdrev had firmly rejected the Japanese side’s position on the detention. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
