Singapore asked to return ex-MFA officer who filmed boy in Tokyo bathhouse

SINGAPORE: The Japanese police reportedly have requested the Singapore Embassy to return a diplomat to Japan for questioning regarding photographs he took of unclothed males at public bathhouses in Tokyo.

According to Japanese media outlet Asahi Shimbun newspaper on Tuesday (14 May), the Metropolitan Police Department made this request through Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

While serving as a counsellor at the Singapore Embassy in Japan, the 55-year-old, who has not been publicly named, confessed in February to secretly filming a boy at a public bath in Tokyo, among other voyeuristic acts.

Consequently, he was suspended from duty to cooperate with investigations, as confirmed by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on 2 May.

Media sources had previously disclosed that he was apprehended using a smartphone to film an undressed male teenager in the men’s changing room of a public bath on 27 February.

Security footage from the venue captured the diplomat pointing his phone at other patrons, leading to his identification by an employee. The incident occurred in Tokyo’s Minato ward, where the Singapore embassy is also located.

He declined to give his smartphone to the police and, at the request of the student’s parents, deleted the photos he had taken of the boy that night.

Reportedly, the police officer requested the diplomat come to the station voluntarily, but while the diplomat said, “I will answer questions here,” he refused to go.

The police discovered over 700 images on the diplomat’s phone, which he admitted to deleting on the night of the incident.

He reportedly told officers that he regretted his actions and could not explain why he committed them. The man was not charged.

The embassy confirmed with Asahi Shimbun that the diplomat had completed his duty in Tokyo and returned to Singapore on 12 April and said it was not aware of the filming incident until the press reported on it.

Due to his diplomatic status, the Japanese authorities were unable to detain him at the time of the incident.

However, the MFA of Singapore expressed readiness on 2 May to waive diplomatic immunity to facilitate investigations, contingent upon the veracity of the allegations.