Russia Probing Japanese Man Detained on Disputed Island

Moscow, Aug. 22 (Jiji Press)--Russian customs officials said Monday that they have launched an investigation on a Japanese man detained on a disputed island for allegedly attempting to taking out cash illegally. The man arrived recently in Kunashiri, one of the four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan, on a visa-free visit program for Japanese nationals and Russians in the islands. He was detained by Russian border guards when he was about to leave Kunashiri. The customs officials claimed that 4 million yen in undeclared cash has been found in the man's baggage during an inspection conducted before his departure from a port in the island. The man is suspected of attempting to take out the money illegally, they said, adding that the authorities are also investigating whether any Russians were involved in the case. The officials said the Japanese man may face a fine of up to 10 times the amount he tried to take out or a prison term of up to two years if he is found guilty. The officials also released a photo of the cash, saying that the money was contained in a paper box in his baggage. At a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that Russia's detention of the man, which was carried out based on its assumed jurisdiction over the islands, was "extremely regrettable and unacceptable from Japan's legal point of view." The issue came ahead of Friday's bilateral talks in Moscow on a peace treaty between the two countries and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's planned visit to the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok next month. The islands, located off Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II and have long been claimed by Japan. The territorial spat has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities. END