Japan demands apology from Russia over 'unbelievable' treatment of diplomat

On Tuesday (September 27), a day after the Russian security service FSB announced that it had detained a Japanese consul in Vladivostok for possible espionage and ordered him to leave the country, Tokyo accused Moscow of mistreating the diplomat and demanded a formal apology.

As per AFP, talking to the press, top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno claimed that the "official was blindfolded, with pressure applied to both his hands and head so he was unable to move while being detained, and then he was questioned in an overbearing way."

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Denying the espionage charges Matsuno said that his country "strongly protests these unbelievable acts".

Reuters reports that as per Matsuno Moscow's detention of the consul was clearly in "violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."

He further stated that the detained consul "was not engaging in any illegal activity," and that Japan summoned the Russian ambassador and "demanded a formal apology" for how the diplomat had been treated. Tokyo has also threatened that it "needs to take equivalent steps".

As per FSB intelligence actions of the Japanese diplomat located in Vladivostok, a port city in eastern Russia, led to him being deemed as "persona non grata."

The agency claims that the envoy was "red-handedly" caught acquiring classified information about how Western sanctions were affecting the economic climate in Russia's far east.

(With inputs from agencies)

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