Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda was kidnapped for more than three years by an extremist group in Syria. In 2018 he was released and returned to Japan.
His kidnappers seized his passport and last year Yasuda applied for a new one because he planned to travel to Europe and India with his family.
However, Japan's Foreign Ministry rejected his request and the journalist has decided to sue the Japanese government, Kyodo reports.
The lawsuit has been filed with the Tokyo District Court.
Yasuda contends that the decision to deny her a new passport, and thus to prevent her from travelling outside Japan, constitutes a violation of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom to travel abroad.
The ministry has declined to rule on the matter, claiming that it does not comment on individual cases.
However, the ministry explained to Yasuda that the decision is based on a law that states that the Government of Japan cannot issue a travel document to a person if a destination country prohibits entry.
The journalist, as the ministry told him, is banned from entering Turkey for five years (after being released, Yasuda was transferred to Turkey, from where he traveled to Japan).
The aforegoing denies that he has been banned from entering Turkey.
Yasuda, 45, entered Syria in 2015 to report on the Islamic State before he was kidnapped. (International Press)
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