(Update) Belarus Frees 14 Prisoners Including 2 Japanese Nationals

   Tokyo, June 22 (Jiji Press)--Belarus has freed 14 prisoners including two Japanese nationals, as well as opposition figure Sergey Tikhanovsky, according to Russia's state-run Tass news agency and other media outlets citing a spokesperson for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
   One of the Japanese citizens may be Masatoshi Nakanishi, who lives in the southeastern state of Gomel and teaches Japanese at a national university there.
   Nakanishi was detained in July last year, including for allegedly taking a photo of a railway. In March, a local court sentenced him to seven years in prison for espionage.
   Another Japanese national was detained last December for allegedly photographing an overpass on a main road.
   The freed prisoners also include Polish, Latvian, Estonian, Swedish and U.S. citizens.

(2025/06/22-13:57)