Tokyo protests 'regrettable' TV show on alleged Japanese spy in Belarus

Tokyo has lodged a diplomatic protest with Belarus after a TV program claimed a Japanese citizen had been engaged in espionage activities in the country.

It comes after a Japanese national was arrested in Belarus on spy allegations.

According to state broadcaster Belteleradio TV, the man worked for Japanese intelligence and was collecting information about the political situation in Belarus, implementation of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, developments on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, and filming military infrastructure.

"My actions may be dangerous for Belarus," the man was seen saying in a Belteleradio Thursday report titled "The Failure of a Samurai from Tokyo."

Top Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi called the program "extremely regrettable."

Japan lodged its protest with Belarus through its diplomatic mission in Minsk, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Tokyo has expressed concerns that the man's "rights were violated."

Tokyo's diplomatic mission had said that the Japanese citizen in his fifties was detained for violating Belarusian law on July 9.

Belarus has grown more isolated from Western countries and their allies, such as Japan, due to its support for Russia's war on Ukraine, which began in February 2022.