Japanese Man Detained in Belarus (Update 2)

Jiji Press

11:07 JST, September 5, 2024 (updated at 18:00 JST)

Tokyo (Jiji Press) — A Japanese man in his 50s was detained by Belarusian authorities on July 9 for alleged violations of domestic law, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Thursday.

A Japanese embassy official confirmed that the man is in good health, Hayashi told a press conference. “The Japanese government will provide as much support as possible,” he added.

Belarusian state television reported Wednesday that a Japanese intelligence agent who identified himself as Masatoshi Nakanishi had been detained in Belarus.

The state TV said that the Japanese agent was allegedly involved in intelligence gathering on Belarus’ cooperation with China’s Belt and Road initiative and the situation along Belarus’ border with Ukraine.

A senior official at Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the man reported by Belarusian media is “undoubtedly” the man who has been detained.

Hayashi declined to reveal details of the Japanese man, including his identity, citing his privacy and the ongoing investigation by local authorities.

According to a national university in the Gomel region in Belarus, information as of 2021 shows that a person named Masatoshi Nakanishi was teaching Japanese at the university and was married to a Belarusian woman from the region.

The region borders Ukraine and Russia, with its capital, also called Gomel, only located around 200 kilometers away from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Belarus is under the heavy influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration. When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops passed through the Gomel region.

The Japanese national’s detention may have been influenced by Russia recognizing Japan as an unfriendly country, with Japan continuing its sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine invasion.

Facing the camera in a Belarusian state TV documentary video for airing on Thursday, an Asian man, speaking in Russian, identified himself as Masatoshi Nakanishi and said that his activities may pose a danger to Belarus. The video also showed a scene in which Belarusian authorities appeared to be watching the man take pictures of military facilities and others before his reported detention.

In Belarus in 2022, a man with a Japanese mother was sentenced to 16 years in prison for participating in protests over the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Among recent cases, a German man was detained in Belarus and sentenced to death in late June on terrorism and other charges, but returned home on Aug. 1 in a prisoner exchange after being granted amnesty. The man also appeared in a state TV documentary, which aired in late July.