Hokkaido Shimbun Reporter Arrested on Espionage Charges, Taken to Moscow

The Investigative Directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service has initiated a criminal case against the Japanese citizen

© Russian Federal Security Service/TASS

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. A correspondent for the Japanese newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Russia’s Far East has been detained on suspicion of espionage, transported to Moscow and placed in custody, the FSB said.

"On the eve of his departure from our country, the foreign national was detained in the Sakhalin Region and then taken to Moscow. The Investigative Directorate of the FSB of Russia has initiated a criminal case against the Japanese citizen under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (espionage)," it said.

"By a decision of the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow, he has been placed under arrest. Further investigative and operational activities are being carried out."