Japan Government Calls on Myanmar to Release Journalist

Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki Thursday called for the immediate release of a Japanese journalist detained in Myanmar.

A court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced Toru Kubota to prison after he filmed an anti-government protest in July, a Japanese diplomat and the Southeast Asian nation’s government said on Thursday.

Kubota was sentenced Wednesday to seven years for violating the electronic transactions law and three years for incitement, said Tetsuo Kitada, deputy chief of mission of the Japanese Embassy.

The sentences were to be served concurrently.

A trial continues on the charge of violating immigration law against him.

“The Japanese government will continue requesting the Myanmar government to release him immediately,” Isozaki said on Thursday.

He added the Japanese government would continue to support Kubota “as much as possible”.

Kubota was arrested on July 30 by plainclothes police in Yangon, the country’s largest city, after taking photos and videos of a small flash protest against Myanmar’s 2021 takeover by the military, which ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kubota was the fifth foreign journalist detained in Myanmar after the military seized power.