Key facts
- Yuki Imai, a journalist for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was arrested on October 14.
- Imai is accused of attempting to obtain information on soldiers in a sensitive region near the Kuril Islands.
- He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
- A Japanese Embassy official met with Imai on Monday, October 27.
A Japanese Embassy official conducted a consular visit on Monday with Yuki Imai, a Japanese national detained in Russia for nearly two weeks on suspicion of espionage. Imai, a correspondent for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was arrested on October 14 by Russia's FSB security service in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island. He is accused of attempting to obtain information on soldiers in the region, which is near the Kuril Islands, a geopolitical sore spot in Russia-Japan relations. Russian authorities transferred him to Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, where a court ordered him to be held in pretrial detention until at least December 12. If convicted, Imai faces up to 20 years in jail. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has condemned the arrest and dismissed the claim that Imai was a spy.