Tokyo [Japan], the Japanese operator of supermarket chain Aeon Co said on Monday that a senior official at a joint venture in Myanmar had been detained, and the military junta said he was detained along with 10 other people for allegedly violating rules on the selling price of rice, reported Kyodo News, a Japan-based news agency.
Aeon named the official as Hiroshi Kasamatsu, 53, an employee of Aeon Orange Co, adding that he would cooperate with local authorities' investigations while seeking support from the Japanese embassy in Myanmar.
According to the junta, which has ruled the country since overthrowing its civilian government in a coup in February 2021, Kasamatsu and 10 Myanmar nationals have been detained for selling rice at a price 50 to 70 percent higher. higher than the level required by the government. authorities.
The Japanese embassy said a lawyer who met Kasamatsu at a police station in Yangon, where he is believed to have been interrogated, told them he had no health problems. "We are in the process of confirming the facts, but we ask for his early release. We will also provide the necessary support," an embassy official said.
Japan's top government spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said the government is urging Myanmar authorities to release the official as soon as possible and is communicating with the company.
The detention of an official from a Japan-affiliated company in Myanmar came even though Japan did not impose sanctions on the Southeast Asian country's military or associated individuals and groups after the coup, unlike Western countries. The incident could cast a shadow over other Japan-linked companies in the country, Kyodo News said.
Aeon Orange was established in 2016 with local retailer Creation Myanmar Group of Companies.
The junta has tried to stabilize the market by setting prices for necessary goods, including rice, and setting a benchmark exchange rate for Myanmar's currency, the kyat, which has weakened significantly since the coup.
Aeon named the official as Hiroshi Kasamatsu, 53, an employee of Aeon Orange Co, adding that he would cooperate with local authorities' investigations while seeking support from the Japanese embassy in Myanmar.
According to the junta, which has ruled the country since overthrowing its civilian government in a coup in February 2021, Kasamatsu and 10 Myanmar nationals have been detained for selling rice at a price 50 to 70 percent higher. higher than the level required by the government. authorities.
The Japanese embassy said a lawyer who met Kasamatsu at a police station in Yangon, where he is believed to have been interrogated, told them he had no health problems. "We are in the process of confirming the facts, but we ask for his early release. We will also provide the necessary support," an embassy official said.
Japan's top government spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said the government is urging Myanmar authorities to release the official as soon as possible and is communicating with the company.
The detention of an official from a Japan-affiliated company in Myanmar came even though Japan did not impose sanctions on the Southeast Asian country's military or associated individuals and groups after the coup, unlike Western countries. The incident could cast a shadow over other Japan-linked companies in the country, Kyodo News said.
Aeon Orange was established in 2016 with local retailer Creation Myanmar Group of Companies.
The junta has tried to stabilize the market by setting prices for necessary goods, including rice, and setting a benchmark exchange rate for Myanmar's currency, the kyat, which has weakened significantly since the coup.
