The detention of a Japanese consular official on Monday by Russia is “extremely regrettable and unacceptable,” said Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
“The consular officer was taken in a state of immobility, blindfolded from start to finish, with hands and head bowed, and subjected to intimidating interrogation,” Hayashi told reporters on Tuesday, adding. that “there is absolutely no evidence of illegal activities as claimed by the Russian side.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori summoned Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin on Tuesday morning, Hayashi said. Mori filed a formal protest, demanding a formal apology and the prevention of recurrence.
The Japanese government will take “appropriate measures,” Hayashi said.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Japanese consul Motoki Tatsunori was detained in Vladivostok on Monday for receiving confidential information.
According to state news agency RISA Novosti, the FSB said the diplomat “was arrested in the act while receiving, for monetary reward, information of limited distribution. [ou seja, confidenciais] on current aspects of Russia’s cooperation with one of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the impact of Western sanctions policy on the economic situation in Primorsky Krai.”
The consul was also declared persona non grata by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “for activities incompatible with the status of consular officer and detrimental to Russia’s security interests,” they said in a statement.
Source: CNN Brasil
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