YANGON: Myanmar authorities detained a Japanese journalist in Yangon on Sunday evening, Japan’s government said on Monday, adding that it was trying to seek his release.
BBC Burmese quoted a witness as saying freelance journalist Yuki Kitazumi was picked up from his home and taken into custody by troops on Sunday night. He was asked to raise both hands and was taken away in a car, it said.
Japan’s government spokesman described the journalist as a man in his forties, without naming him.
“We are seeking, from Myanmar, his quick release, and we are trying to secure the safety of Japanese nationals,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference, adding that the government was seeking details on the circumstances surrounding the journalist’s detention.
A spokesman for the junta did not respond to calls asking for comment.
Kitazumi runs a media production company, Yangon Media Professionals, and used to be a journalist with the Nikkei business daily, according to his Facebook page and interviews with online media.
He was arrested previously in February while covering protests against the February 1 coup but was released soon afterwards. — Reuters
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,229 remain in detention.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s shadow government urged Southeast Asian leaders to give it a seat at the table during crisis talks next week, and not to recognise the military regime that seized power in a February coup.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing is expected to join a special Asean summit on Myanmar on Saturday in Jakarta — his first official overseas trip since the putsch that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The army has moved to quell mass protests against its rule, killing at least 730 people according to a local monitoring group.
Min Aung Hlaing’s invitation to the meeting of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations has drawn scorn from activists who have urged foreign leaders not to formally recognise the junta.
Moe Zaw Oo, deputy minister of foreign affairs for the parallel “national unity government” — formed Friday by ousted lawmakers mostly from Suu Kyi’s party, as well as ethnic-minority politicians — said Asean had not reached out to them. — Reuters
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