Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki Thursday called for the immediate release of a Japanese journalist detained in Myanmar.
A court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced Toru Kubota to prison after he filmed an anti-government protest in July, a Japanese diplomat and the Southeast Asian nation’s government said on Thursday.
Kubota was sentenced Wednesday to seven years for violating the electronic transactions law and three years for incitement, said Tetsuo Kitada, deputy chief of mission of the Japanese Embassy.
The sentences were to be served concurrently.
A trial continues on the charge of violating immigration law against him.
“The Japanese government will continue requesting the Myanmar government to release him immediately,” Isozaki said on Thursday….