100,000 signatures commemorate death of Kenji Nagai

Protesters in Japan presented the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo a 100,000 signature petition protesting the murder of video journalist Kenji Nagai in the Burmese capital Rangoon one year ago. The group also asked for the return of his camera equipment,

The group led by Kota Kinoshita, who was a close friend of Nagai, had collected 100,000 signatures by Aug. 27 this year, which was Nagai’s birthday. Fifteen members of the group including Kinoshita and Noriko Ogawa — Nagai’s 48-year-old younger sister — dropped the signatures into the post box at the entrance of the embassy on Thursday after embassy officials refused to meet them. link

Last week, Win Min Htun, a Burmese man was arrested in Tokyo for allegedly trying to sell the missing belongings of Nagai to staff at the video news service APF,

“As soon as the company refused to take the offer, he allegedly threatened to do harm,” [a police spokesman said]. Win Min Htun demanded one million yen (about 9,500 US dollars) for the cost of travelling to Myanmar to get Nagai’s missing camera and tape back, according to APF News. The news service, which specialises in reports from dangerous areas, denounced the suspect for taking advantage of Nagai’s plight. “We didn’t think his offer was credible enough and rejected the demands,” said APF employee Hiroshi Koyama. “He then said we would be at risk if we don’t even pay him 500,000 yen.” link