Japan’s embassy confirms another arrest of Japanese national in Belarus

December 18, Pozirk. The Embassy of Japan in Minsk has confirmed the arrest of a second Japanese national in Belarus after contacting the Belarusian foreign ministry two days ago, asahi.com reports.

The diplomats have not disclosed the name of the arrested and the charges against him.

The arrest of a Japanese national for filming railway facilities in the Homiel region was reported earlier this month by belzhd.info.

It came months after the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) claimed in July that it arrested a Japanese spy. Kanstancin Byčak, chief investigator at the Committee for State Security, accused the man of taking more than 9,000 pictures near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.

The state-run Belarus 1 TV channel broadcast a propaganda film about the first arrest in July, prompting a response from the Japanese Embassy, which submitted a note to the foreign ministry, expressing concern about violations of the rights of the arrested.

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