Int'l Group Urges Russia to Release Japanese Reporter

New York, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based international nonprofit organization, on Wednesday called for the immediate release of a Japanese newspaper reporter detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage.

Russia claims that the male reporter for Hokkaido Shimbun Press gathered information on mobilized soldiers and other topics at the direction of Japanese intelligence authorities.

The detention is "deeply chilling to see," Fiona O'Brien, the committee's director for Europe and Central Asia, said in a statement. "Journalists must not be used as leverage in wider geopolitical disputes."

The statement also said that the incident is reminiscent of the case of a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia on espionage allegations in 2023, sentenced to 16 years in prison and released in 2024.

Russia is holding at least 30 journalists in connection with their work, according to the committee.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]