Russian Trade Representative staff – leaves Japan without answering to police’s appearance request

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

警察の出頭要請応じず 在日ロシア通商代表部職員が出国

06月12日　18時08分

在日ロシア通商代表部の職員に渡す目的を隠して、軍事技術などに関する文献を不正に入手したとして、神奈川県座間市の７０歳の男が逮捕された事件で、警察が出頭を要請していた通商代表部の職員が要請に応じないまま１２日朝、羽田空港から出国しました。

座間市の無職、宮坂和雄容疑者（７０）はおととし在日ロシア通商代表部の職員に渡す目的を隠して、論文などのコピーを提供するサービスに会員登録し、軍事技術などの文献を不正に入手したとして逮捕されました。

調べに対し容疑を認め「およそ３０年にわたってロシア人に文献を渡していた」などと供述しているということです。

これまでの調べによりますと、文献を渡したのは在日ロシア通商代表部の４０代の男性職員で、ロシアの情報機関員とみられ、警察は今月９日に外務省を通じて出頭するよう要請しました。

しかし、捜査関係者によりますと要請に応じないまま１２日朝、羽田空港からモスクワ行きの旅客機に乗って出国したということです。

警察は職員も文献の不正入手に関わったとみていて、さらに詳しいいきさつを調べることにしています。

この事件について在日ロシア大使館は１２日、ＳＮＳに「ロシア通商代表部職員が、違法な活動をしていたとする日本警察による情報に当惑している。露日関係が全体として前向きに進展している中で、貿易経済関係の発展に従事してきた通商代表部職員に対して、理不尽な非難がなされた点にも注目している」などとするコメントを投稿しました。

Translation

The police had requested a staff of the Russian Trade Representative to appear in a case in which a 70-year-old man in Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture who had been arrested for illegally obtaining documents related to military technology, etc., and hid the purpose of handing them over to a staff of the Russian Trade Representative in Japan. This staff member of the Office who had been requested to show up departed from Haneda Airport in the morning on the 12th without responding to the showing up request.

Kazuo Miyasaka, a 70-year-old unemployed person in Zama City, in the year before last, registered as a member of a service that provides copies of treatises, etc. to illegally acquiring them, and hid the purpose of handing them over to a staff of the Russian Trade Representative in Japan. He was arrested for that.

He admitted to the investigation by stating that he had "passed the documents to the Russians for about 30 years."

According to the investigation so far, the documents were handed over to a male employee in his 40s from the Russian Trade Representative in Japan who was believed to be a Russian intelligence officer, and the police through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested him to appear on the 9th of this month.

However, according to the investigators, on the morning of the 12th without responding to the request, he departed from Haneda Airport on a passenger plane bound for Moscow

The police believed that this staff member was also involved in the unauthorized acquisition of documents, and would investigate the details further.

Regarding this incident, the Russian Embassy in Japan posted comments by SNS on the 12^th  saying that, "we are embarrassed by the information of the Japanese police that a staff of the Russian Trade Representative was engaged in illegal activities. In the meantime, we are also paying attention to the unreasonable criticism of the staff of the Trade Representative, who have been engaged in the development of trade and economic relations.”

So, the most natural way to avoid being caught is to escape. Spying, or intelligence collection is a common phenomenon among countries. Every country has its intelligence office. I consider this suspected espionage case is a success for the Russian as a Japanese has successfully passed on the documents to them for about 30 years.