Junpei Yasuda

Junpei Yasuda (安田 純平, Yasuda Junpei, born March 16, 1974) or Jumpei Yasuda is a Japanese freelance journalist who has reported from countries in the Middle East, including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. He has twice been kidnapped while reporting and was thought to have been taken hostage by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria for three years before being released on October 23, 2018.

History

Iraq

In April 2004, Yasuda was kidnapped in Iraq, but released after three days.

Syria kidnapping

Yasuda went missing while reporting from Syria between June 20–23, 2015. He was believed to have been kidnapped by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

On March 17, 2016, Yasuda appeared in a video believed have been recorded the previous day.[1]

On July 6, 2018, Yasuda appeared in a video released by Nippon News Network, who obtained the video from a person connected to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. The video appeared to be recorded in October 2017.[2]

On August 1, 2018, Yasuda appeared in another hostage video, in which he stated the date of recording as July 25.[3] He said in the video "My name is Umaru and I'm South Korean." in Japanese.[4]

On October 23, 2018, Yasuda was released in Antakya and in a brief video statement released by Turkish officials stated "My name is Junpei Yasuda, Japanese journalist. I have been held in Syria for 40 months, now in Turkey. Now I’m in safe condition. Thank you very much". Yasuda left Istanbul for Tokyo the day after his release.[5]

In November 2018, a Canadian citizen who was held hostage in Syria alongside Yasuda claimed they were held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. He said they were both held at the same facility in small cells indicating that they suffered beatings and were fed rotten food.[6]

References
  1. "Junpei Yasuda, Japanese Journalist Missing in Syria, Surfaces in Video". Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  2. "Japanese Journalist, Missing in Syria Since 2015, Appears in New Video". Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  3. Johnson, Jesse; Osaki, Tomohiro (August 1, 2018). "Japanese journalist missing in Syria likely man in IS-style video: government". Japan Times. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  4. ""Help me, right now": Video likely shows Japan journalist held in Syria". Kyodo News. August 1, 2018. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  5. "Japanese journalist heads home after 40 months held hostage by militants". Archived from the original on October 24, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  6. "Canadian held captive in Syria says Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda doesn't deserve criticism". The Japan Times. November 3, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2019.


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