Russia has arrested a Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Russia has arrested a number of foreign citizens in recent years on charges widely dismissed as baseless.
The FSB security service said a Japanese national, who it did not name, was arrested on the Far East island of Sakhalin and had worked for Japanese intelligence to collect information about Russia’s defences. Russia has arrested several citizens of what it calls “unfriendly” countries in recent years, accusing them of working for Western intelligence services.
Russian media reported he would remain in custody until December 12. The FSB published a video showing masked officers storming a hotel room, pushing a man to the floor and handcuffing him. He was flown to Moscow, where a court ordered he be held in pre-trial detention. It did not say when the arrest or court hearing occurred.
The FSB said it had “opened a criminal case against the Japanese national”, and that he had been placed in pre-trial detention, TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies reported, citing the agency.
