Japanese Journalist Yasuda Likely to Have Been Freed

October 24, 2018

UPDATED Tokyo- Japanese freelance journalist Junpei Yasuda, who was believed to have been held by Islamic extremists in 2015, is now likely to have been freed, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday night, citing information given to Japan by the Qatari government.

"Judging from the information, the freed man is highly likely to be Yasuda," the top Japanese government spokesman told a hastily arranged press conference. The government has informed Yasuda's wife about this, Suga added.

According to Suga, Tokyo was informed by the Qatari government around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday Japan time (10:40 a.m. GMT) that Yasuda, 44, would be released within the day.

Around 9 p.m., Japan received information that Yasuda was freed and is in protective custody at an immigration facility in Antakya in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria, according to Suga.

The Japanese government sent staff to Antakya to confirm whether the freed man is Yasuda. The identification process is expected to take "a certain amount of time," Suga said.

A senior government official said Tuesday night that Yasuda is not in bad health.

According to informed sources in northwestern Syria, Yasuda was released through the intermediation of Qatar.

Having supported Syrian rebels, Qatar has influence on Islamic extremist groups, including an organization previously called al-Nusra Front. In 2016, Qatar succeeded in realizing the release of three Spanish reporters who were apparently detained together with Yasuda.

On Tuesday, a British group monitoring human rights in Syria said a massive ransom was paid for the release of Yausda. The credibility of this information is unknown.

The Japanese government takes a position not to pay any ransom to terrorists.

The head of the British group said the ransom for the release of Yasuda was paid by Qatar, not by Japan.

Yasuda went unaccounted for after entering northern Syria via southern Turkey in June 2015 for reporting activities. He was believed to have been captured by an Islamic extremist group.

Videos apparently showing Yasuda seeking help have been posted online many times.

In a video released in July, a man in an orange garment who seemed to be Yasuda claimed to be South Korean and called himself Umaru.

A Syrian man who has obtained still and video images of a person believed to be Yasuda said the Japanese journalist may have become mentally ill after a prolonged detention.

Yasuda is known for his stance of actively covering news on the ground.

According to his website and Twitter page, Yasuda, a native of the city of Iruma in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, joined Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, a local newspaper publisher in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, in 1997 after graduating from Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

While working for the newspaper, he often took leave to travel to Afghanistan and Iraq to cover the situations in the countries.

He left Shinano Mainichi Shimbun in January 2003 to become freelance.

After the Iraq War broke out in March that year, Yasuda entered the country. He continued his reporting activities there although he was detained by Iraqi forces and others several times. Jiji Press