Russian diplomats rank first place in unpaid traffic fines in Japan
Russian diplomats have become the first in the list of non-payers of parking fines in Japan, Azernews reports, citing Japanese media outlets.
In the five years to 2022, a total of 2.338 unpaid parking fines were accumulated on vehicles with diplomatic plates of the Russian Embassy in Tokyo or one of its four consulates throughout Japan. This is 59% of all similar cases involving diplomats` cars in this country.
In second place by a large margin is China, whose embassy has accumulated 246 parking fines. Further down the list are the diplomatic missions of Kazakhstan, Egypt, Iran, and Ukraine.
The total amount of overdue debt is unknown today, but in 2021 it amounted to $268 thousand per all foreign embassies in Japan.
"We expect all diplomats to respect Japanese laws," said an employee of the diplomatic missions department of the Japanese Foreign Ministry in Asia.
Diplomatic immunity provided for by the Vienna Convention does not apply to parking fines. At the same time, the Japanese authorities cannot confiscate the personal property of diplomats, which makes calls for the payment of fines largely fruitless.
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