Myanmar authorities arrested a Japanese journalist in Yangon on Sunday evening, the Japanese government said on Monday, adding that it was trying to demand his release.
The Burmese BBC quoted a witness as saying that independent 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, he said.
A Japanese government spokesman described the journalist as a man in his forties, unnamed.
“We seek his speedy release from Myanmar and try to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens,” Cabinet Secretary-General Katsunobu Kato told a news conference, adding that the government was seeking details of the circumstances. surrounding the journalist’s arrest.
A board spokesman did not respond to calls for comment.
Kitazumi runs a media production company, Yangon Media Professionals, and used to be a journalist for the business newspaper Nikkei, according to his Facebook page and interviews with online media.
He was arrested earlier in February while covering protests against the February 1 coup, but was released shortly afterwards.
According to the activist group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,229 remain in detention.
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