Japanese attache taken for a spy in the Crimea

Not only ordinary people but even high-ranking officials go to the Crimea for vacations. Japanese military attache to Ukraine also decided to go to the sea under the pretext of business affairs. When the attache arrived in Simferopol, he at once attracted the local railway station police guards. The police considered the attache to be rather suspicious, although the man did not violate any behavior norms at the station.

As the attache was not of a Slavic appearance, which is quite natural for a Japanese official, he was asked to show his documents. However, it took the attache several minutes to find his diplomatic card in the travel bag. The police guards did not wish to wait for him to complete the searches and attempted to handcuff the Japanese. However, the guest turned out to be very strong and offered considerable resistance to the police. The attache finally managed to find his diplomatic card and showed it to the raging policemen. Irrespective of the fact that the diplomatic card was issued by the Ukraine government, the police guards ignored the document. Moreover, they imagined that they had caught a very dangerous criminal. In vain, the Japanese attache tried to explain who he was, and, in response, he was kicked. Finally, a fight broke out. Witnesses say that the show was rather entertaining, when the four policemen attacked the poor man and finally took him to the police station.

The attache not only missed his train; he was seriously injured in the fight. Now, the Japanese attache is curing his wounds, but the Simferopol policemen are being severely lectured on ethics every day. The Japan Embassy sent a note of resentment to the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry in connection with the incident. The conflict is not settled yet; on the contrary, it is at its height.

Alexander Gorobets PRAVDA.Ru Kiev Ukraine

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/07/16/44253.html

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