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Japan confiscates passport of Syria-bound journalist

Sunday, 08 February 2015 12:20 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 08 February 2015 12:20 PM ]

A pedestrian walks past a TV screen in Tokyo showing news reports about Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, who was later beheaded by ISIL terrorists, January 26, 2015. (© AFP)

Japan has reportedly confiscated the passport of a Japanese journalist who planned to travel to Syria in the wake of the brutal killing of two Japanese hostages by Takfiri ISIL terrorists.

The move by the Japanese authorities on Sunday marks the first time Tokyo has adopted such a measure on the grounds that it was warranted in order to protect the life of the passport-holder, local press reports said.

“Tonight, an official with the Foreign Ministry’s passport division came and took my passport,” said the freelance Japanese photo-journalist identified as Yuichi Sugimoto, as quoted by the country’s Asahi Shimbun news agency.

However, the 58-year-old reporter, who has covered conflict zones in Iraq and Syria over the past years, insisted that he did not plan to gain access to the areas controlled by the Takfiri terrorist group, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

“What happens to my freedom to travel and freedom of the press?” Sugimoto said.

According to the press reports, the Japanese Foreign Ministry seized Sugimoto’s passport on Saturday, saying that he planned to enter Syria on February 27 to cover refugee camps among other places.

The development comes in the wake of the recent beheadings of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa by the foreign-backed ISIL terrorists in Syria.

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