Japan Demands Apology From Russia Over Detention of Consul

Japan’s government on Tuesday demanded an apology from Russian authorities for “coercively” detaining a Japanese consulate official, who was accused of espionage and ordered to leave Russia.

Tatsunori Motoki, a Japanese consul in Valdivostok, was detained on Sept. 22 and declared “persona non grata”—a term used for an unwelcome person—for allegedly engaging in spying, which Japan’s government has denied.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the consulate official was physically restrained and had his eyes covered by the Russian authorities during his detention, Kyodo News reported.

Hayashi said the Russian authorities’ treatment of Motoki was “totally unacceptable” as there was no evidence that the consulate official had engaged in any illegal activity.

He further noted that detaining a consulate official violates the Vienna Convention and a consular pact between Japan and Russia.

Motoki was released after a few hours of detention and was ordered to leave Russia within 48 hours. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the consul has no health problem and will return to Japan on Wednesday.

“The alleged illegal activity insisted by the Russian side is completely groundless,” he told reporters.

Matsuno said that Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori summoned Russia’s ambassador and strongly protested, demanding a formal apology from the Russian government and measures to prevent a recurrence.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday that it had detained a Japanese consulate official based in Vladivostok for soliciting “restricted” information, according to Russian news agencies.

“A Japanese diplomat was detained red-handed while receiving, in exchange for financial reward, restricted information about Russia’s cooperation with another country in the Asia-Pacific region,” the FSB stated.

The FSB identified the official as Tatsunori Motoki, accusing him of seeking out information on “the impact of Western sanctions” on the surrounding Primorye region.

The Kremlin has referred to Japan as a “hostile” country, a designation it shares with the United States, the E.U. countries, and their Western allies, due to Japan’s sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine since Feb. 24.

Japan has sanctioned Russian leader Vladimir Putin and several other Russian leaders, and restricted exports of certain goods to the country. It also banned certain Russian banks from the SWIFT global interbank network.

The Japanese government had supplied Ukraine with defense equipment, such as bulletproof vests and helmets, and pledged to accept Ukrainian refugees even if they have no relatives in Japan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.