Saudi Diplomat Referred to Prosecutors Over Alleged Molestation in Tokyo; Suspect Returned to Home Country

The Yomiuri Shimbun

2:00 JST, December 7, 2024

The Metropolitan Police Department on Friday sent papers to prosecutors on a Saudi Arabian diplomat formally in Tokyo, alleging that he touched a woman’s breasts at a club in Tokyo’s Roppongi district.

The man, who is in his 30s, had been posted to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tokyo but reportedly returned to his home country after the incident without responding to the MPD’s request to appear at one of its stations.

The man is suspected of touching the breasts of the woman, a customer of the Minato Ward club in her 20s, in the early hours of July 15, according to a senior MPD official.

He is reported to have suddenly touched the woman after talking with her.

The two did not know each other.

The woman reported the incident to the police, who then arrived at the scene. The man denied molesting her, saying he only touched her arm.

He agreed to accompany the police to the Azabu Police Station for questioning but then showed a certificate identifying himself as a diplomat and left the scene.

In October, the MPD asked the embassy twice through the Japan’s Foreign Ministry to have the man come to the police so that they could conduct an inquiry.

Diplomats have immunity from arrest in the country where they are stationed. The man did not comply with the request to come to the police station and returned to Saudi Arabia last month.