Rule Breaker Abroad: Singapore Diplomat Under Investigation for Tokyo Bathhouse Incident!

According to Japanese media reports on Thursday, a diplomat from the Singapore embassy in Tokyo was interrogated by the police on suspicion of secretly recording a male teenager at a public bath.

The individual in question is a 55-year-old ambassador who, as per NHK, previously held the position of counselor at the embassy. A counselor is a diplomatic position held by officers who serve abroad, particularly in an embassy.

According to the Yomiuri newspaper, on February 27, an individual surreptitiously recorded a 13-year-old middle school kid in the changing area of a public bath using his smartphone. The boy was unclothed.

According to the Asahi newspaper, the staff members at the public bath in Tokyo's Minato ward contacted the police. Upon their arrival, the police conducted a search of the diplomat's phone and discovered several explicit photographs of male customers.

Furthermore, the ambassador declined to visit the police station but did admit to authorities that he had captured similar photographs in different public bathing facilities.

According to the Japanese news outlet, when instructed to remove the images from his phone, the diplomat promptly deleted them. Supposedly, he erased a total of 700 photographs from his mobile device, claiming to the authorities that he had captured them over the six months before their occurrence.

Asahi reports that the Tokyo police are currently conducting an investigation into possible breaches of child pornography legislation. They intend to request the assistance of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in persuading the individual in question to surrender himself. There is also a possibility of pressing formal charges.

The diplomat has been terminated from their position as a counselor; nevertheless, they are protected from being imprisoned due to their immunity granted by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. This convention stipulates that diplomats cannot be apprehended or held in custody in the country to which they have been sent.

According to the Asahi newspaper, when questioned on Thursday, the embassy claimed to have no knowledge of the event at the public bath. The embassy also informed the newspaper that the diplomat's deployment concluded on April 12, and he has already returned to Singapore.