Olympics-EU envoys back Frenchman on hunger strike over Japan child custody

FILE PHOTO: French father-of-two Vincent Fichot stands with his banner where he has been on a hunger strike since July 10 to protest what he says is Japan's sanctioning of child 'abductions' by a parent, near the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan July 21, 2021. REUTERS/Chang-Ran Kim/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ten European diplomats expressed support on Friday for a Frenchman who has been on hunger strike for three weeks during the Tokyo Olympics to protest what he calls the legally sanctioned abduction of his two children by his Japanese wife.

The European Union ambassadors to Japan met with Vincent Fichot, 39, who is camped out at a train station near the National Stadium, a focus of the ongoing Games, where temperatures regularly top 30 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit) amid sweltering humidity.