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Myanmar police detained a Japanese independent journalist at a protest in the commercial capital of Yangon, one of his colleagues said on Friday (February 26), the first arrest of a foreign reporter since the February 1 military coup.
The Japanese government later confirmed that a Japanese national in his 40s had been detained by the Myanmar security police in Yangon.
Yuki Kitazumi, who runs a media production company, Yangon Media Professionals, was arrested on Friday morning. She used to be a journalist for the Nikkei business daily, according to her Facebook page and online media interviews.
“According to witnesses, he was hit on the head but he was wearing a helmet, so it didn’t cause him much damage. I contacted the embassy and haven’t heard much more information yet,” said Linn Nyan, Kitazumi’s colleague in Myanmar Htun, he said in a Facebook post about the arrest.
“I didn’t witness him, but I got a message from him through the Messenger app around 11:30 am that he was arrested. After that I lost connection with him,” he told Reuters by phone.
READ: Myanmar security forces disperse anti-coup protesters
Myanmar police did not immediately return calls for comment. Kitazumi’s phone number, listed on his company’s website, was not available.
Myanmar has been rocked by protests for weeks since the army seized power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and detained her and most of her government.
Kitazumi is the second foreigner known to have been detained since the coup.
The first foreigner arrested was Australian academic Sean Turnell, Aung San Suu Kyi’s adviser on economic reforms and the foremost international expert on Myanmar’s financial system.
Kitazumi’s company produces video content, from news to movie trailers, and trains journalists with an emphasis on freedom of expression, his company says on its website.
Earlier on Friday, Kitazumi wrote a Facebook post titled “Peace,” saying that many of Myanmar’s citizens were on the streets despite the bloodshed and were grateful to the Japanese for their support of the protesters.
Kitazumi left the Nikkei in 2012 after having worked as a reporter since 2001, a representative for the newspaper said.
