ID :
203541
Thu, 08/25/2011 - 16:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/203541
The shortlink copeid
Russia hands Japanese student over to Japan after 4-day detention
TOKYO, Aug. 25 Kyodo - Russia handed over a 37-year-old Japanese university student to Japan on Thursday, four days after seizing him for an alleged unauthorized trip to one of four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido claimed by Japan, the Japan Coast Guard said.
A Russian border guard vessel delivered Keisuke Kuriyama, a student in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa Prefecture, to a Japan Coast Guard patrol ship in waters off Hokkaido at around 4:30 p.m. and the ship arrived at Nemuro port at around 6 p.m., it said.
Upon arrival at the port, Kuriyama said, ''I drifted away due to bad weather. I'm sorry for having caused trouble to everyone as I failed to come back on my own.'' He is in good shape, according to the coast guard.
Russian border guards seized Kuriyama when he was on a rubber raft in waters near Kunashiri Island on Sunday.
The Russian authorities said Thursday that a strong ocean current had forced Kuriyama's raft to drift away from Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula and that he had not intended to violate the border.
Kuriyama was quoted as telling the Russian authorities he was rescued by the nation's border guards as he approached the island in order not to lose sight of land.
As the student was handed over to Japan, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing the Japanese government for attempting to link the detention of the student with Tokyo's territorial claims to the islands.
Japan and Russia have been engaged in a territorial row over the four islands since the former Soviet Union seized them at the end of World War II.
Russia had only rescued Kuriyama when he was found drifting in waters near the island, the ministry noted.
The ministry indicated its strong displeasure regarding the Japanese government's demand that the student be released on the grounds that a Japanese citizen cannot be detained by a foreign power in territory over which Japan claims sovereignty.
The ministry asserted that no doubt exists about Russia's sovereignty over the islands, called the Southern Kurils in Russia.
Japanese State Foreign Secretary Chiaki Takahashi said at a press conference that even though Russia seized Kuriyama for protection, his detention near the contested island by Russian authorities runs counter to Japan's sovereignty claim to the territory.
A Russian border guard vessel delivered Keisuke Kuriyama, a student in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa Prefecture, to a Japan Coast Guard patrol ship in waters off Hokkaido at around 4:30 p.m. and the ship arrived at Nemuro port at around 6 p.m., it said.
Upon arrival at the port, Kuriyama said, ''I drifted away due to bad weather. I'm sorry for having caused trouble to everyone as I failed to come back on my own.'' He is in good shape, according to the coast guard.
Russian border guards seized Kuriyama when he was on a rubber raft in waters near Kunashiri Island on Sunday.
The Russian authorities said Thursday that a strong ocean current had forced Kuriyama's raft to drift away from Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula and that he had not intended to violate the border.
Kuriyama was quoted as telling the Russian authorities he was rescued by the nation's border guards as he approached the island in order not to lose sight of land.
As the student was handed over to Japan, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing the Japanese government for attempting to link the detention of the student with Tokyo's territorial claims to the islands.
Japan and Russia have been engaged in a territorial row over the four islands since the former Soviet Union seized them at the end of World War II.
Russia had only rescued Kuriyama when he was found drifting in waters near the island, the ministry noted.
The ministry indicated its strong displeasure regarding the Japanese government's demand that the student be released on the grounds that a Japanese citizen cannot be detained by a foreign power in territory over which Japan claims sovereignty.
The ministry asserted that no doubt exists about Russia's sovereignty over the islands, called the Southern Kurils in Russia.
Japanese State Foreign Secretary Chiaki Takahashi said at a press conference that even though Russia seized Kuriyama for protection, his detention near the contested island by Russian authorities runs counter to Japan's sovereignty claim to the territory.
