A Japanese man handed 7-year sentence in Belarus on charges of working for Japanese intelligence

By The Associated Press (AP) — A Japanese man was convicted on charges of working for Japan’s intelligence service and sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday by a court in Belarus.

Masatoshi Nakanishi, who has been in custody since his arrest in July, was accused of taking pictures of military and civilian facilities for Japanese intelligence, inflicting damage to Belarus’ national security.

The Minsk City Court convicted and sentenced Nakanishi after a two-month trial that went on behind closed doors. He also was ordered to pay a fine equivalent to about $6,700. Belarusian authorities had rejected the Japanese Embassy’s request to attend the proceedings.

Belarus’ Viasna Human Rights Centre declared Nakanishi a political prisoner. The group says that Belarus now has more than 1,200 political prisoners, including 36 foreign citizens.

Nakanishi had lived in Gomel, Belarus’ second-largest city, since 2018 and taught Japanese at a local university, according to Belarusian state-controlled media.

Belarusian state TV has reported that Nakanishi took 9,000 photographs of military installations, airfields, railway lines, bridges and other infrastructure in the Belarusian-Ukrainian border area. Japanese authorities protested the TV report, saying it infringed on Nakanishi’s rights.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for over 30 years and has relied on Russia’s subsidies and support, allowed Moscow to use his country’s territory to send troops into neighboring Ukraine in 2022. Lukashenko also has allowed Russia to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.