NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - English News at 18:00 (JST), October 15

A major journalism nonprofit is calling on Moscow to release a detained Japanese reporter.

Russia's Federal Security Service took him into custody on suspicion of espionage.

The man is a correspondent with the Hokkaido Shimbun Newspaper's Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Bureau.

The FSB says he has been transferred to Moscow.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for his immediate release.

In a post Wednesday, it said, "Journalists must not be used as leverage in wider geopolitical disputes." It claims Russia has at least 30 journalists in detention.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry is also getting involved.

The Director General of its European Affairs Bureau, Nakamura Kimitake, summoned the Russian ambassador to Japan, Nikolay Nozrev, Wednesday.

Nakamura called for prompt information and access to the detained journalist.

He also asked that the reporter be treated humanely.

Nakamura also strongly protested footage that appears to show the journalist in custody.

He criticized Russia for releasing the video without telling Japan.

A ministry official said, as of Wednesday night, Russia still had not notified them about this case.

They say details, such as the man's condition, remain unknown.