Belarus sentences Japanese man to 7 years in jail for espionage

Euronews

18-03-2025

A court in Belarus has jailed a Japanese man for seven years for espionage after he was convicted of working on behalf of Japan's intelligence service.
Masatoshi Nakanishi, who has been in custody in Belarus since his arrest in July, was accused of taking thousands of photos of military and civilian facilities in the Belarusian-Ukrainian border area from 2018 to 2024 and sharing them with Japanese intelligence.
The Minsk City Court issued the sentence after a two-month trial that was held behind closed doors. Nakanishi was convicted of cooperating with a "special service, security and intelligence agency of a foreign state, involving actions knowingly aimed at harming the national security" of Belarus, the office of the country's prosecutor general said.
He was ordered to pay a fine equivalent to around €6,130. Belarusian authorities had rejected a request by the Japanese embassy in Belarus to attend the proceedings.
The embassy told Japanese media outlet NHK that Tokyo had been in contact with Minsk to demand Nakanishi's immediate release.
Nakanishi had lived in Gomel, Belarus' second-largest city, since 2018. According to Belarusian state-controlled media, he taught Japanese at a local university.
A 15-minute programme focusing on Nakanishi's alleged espionage entitled The Failure of a Samurai from Tokyo aired on state television last September. Japanese authorities criticised the programme at the time, saying that it infringed on Nakanishi's rights.
Belarus' Viasna Human Rights Centre, an NGO, declared Nakanishi a political prisoner. The group says that Belarus now has more than 1,200 political prisoners in custody, among them 36 foreign citizens.
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya criticised the sentencing.
"Like other political prisoners, he is being dehumanised by regime propaganda," she wrote in a post on X on Monday.
Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for over 30 years while relying on subsidies and support from Russia, allowed the Russian military to use his country's territory to send troops into neighbouring Ukraine in 2022.
Lukashenko also has allowed Russia to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
Japan has placed sanctions on Russia and Belarus over Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Chinese military drills near Taiwan have ramped up in recent days, according to the Taiwanese defence ministry, with China issuing a warning over support for the self-governing island's independence and Taipei accusing Beijing of being a "troublemaker".
Taiwan's defence ministry on Tuesday said 43 Chinese drones and ships had entered the island's air defence identification zone but that no confrontations were reported.
The ministry said it monitored the situation and deployed aircraft, navy ships and coastal anti-ship missile defences in response.
Beijing launches such missions on a daily basis, seeking to wear down Taiwanese defences and morale, although the vast majority of the island's 23 million people reject its claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that the drills were "a resolute response to foreign connivance and support for Taiwan independence, and a serious warning to Taiwan separatist forces."
China's actions "are necessary, legal and justified measures to defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," Mao added.
Beijing also took issue with recent changes to the US Department of State's website, with Mao claiming that the removal of language reaffirming the One-China principle had sent the "wrong signals to Taiwan separatist forces".
Taiwanese Defence Minister Wellington Koo told legislators the drills were further evidence China was a "troublemaker" endangering peace in the region.
Last week, Taiwan's President William Lai Ching-te provoked Beijing's ire said that Taiwanese law designates mainland China as a "foreign hostile force".
He also announced tighter measures to prevent Chinese subversion through media and civic exchanges, and warned of the danger of influential figures and current and retired military members selling secrets to China.
The Taiwan Strait, one of the world's most critical shipping routes, remains a focal point of geopolitical tension. While China does not interfere with civilian vessels, it frequently objects to the presence of US and foreign warships in the region.
On Saturday, China rejected accusations from G7 diplomats, who had criticised Beijing's aggressive maritime activities as a threat to regional stability.
In a joint statement, the G7 condemned China's "illicit, provocative, coercive and dangerous actions" that it said aimed to change the status quo and threaten security.
China dismissed the remarks, calling them "filled with arrogance, prejudice and malicious intentions".
In response to the escalating military pressure from China, Taiwan has ordered new weaponry from the US, including missiles and aircraft, while strengthening its own defence industry. The island is developing new submarines and other key military assets to reinforce its security.