Russian orders Japanese consul to leave country

Russia sFSB security agency said on Monday it had detained a Japanese consul for suspected espionage and ordered him to leave the country.

The consul, Motoki Tatsunori, was released after a few hours of detention, according to Reuters. Japan s top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said he was blindfolded, restrained and treated in an intimidating manner, a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations Tokyo has lodged a strong protest about the detention and signalled it may retaliate, Matsuno told a media briefing on Tuesday.

The consul was declared as a nongrata after he was caught red-handed receiving secret information about the effects of Western sanctions on the economic situation in Russia's far east. It said the classified information, which included Russia's cooperation with an unnamed Asia-Pacific country, had been obtained in exchange for a monetary reward. Japan has said he is not participating in any illegal activity and will leave the country by Wednesday.