Hokkaido Shimbun opens special page to publish real name of Russian detained reporter

Regarding the detention of a Hokkaido Shimbun reporter by the Russian authorities, the Hokkaido Shimbun Company announced on the 12th that the person detained was Yuki Imai (34). His real name was published on a special page set up on the news site on the same day.

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The special page explains that the reason for reporting anonymously so far is that ``we have given top priority to ensuring the safety of the individuals in custody, and have carefully considered the manner in which we should report.'' ``We will not conduct any interviews or gather information based on instructions from the government,'' the statement said, adding, ``Given that one month has passed since his detention and there is still no prospect of his release, we have decided that it is necessary to make this point clear to society using his real name.''

Reporter Imai and his family have agreed to report using his real name, and added, ``The Hokkaido Shimbun will continue to work with relevant organizations to ensure that Imai's safety and rights are protected, and we will do our best to help him return to Japan as soon as possible.''

Meanwhile, on the 12th, a lawyer representing reporter Imai's family made comments to media outlets saying, ``The family is still in a situation where they do not know the details of the situation, and the emotional burden is extremely heavy, so we are not considering responding to individual interviews at this stage.''