TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- An American father jailed in Tokyo has been harshly treated, his attorney said Monday, while Japanese authorities said he is getting "special" treatment. 

Christopher Savoie is in jail in Japan after trying to get back his son, Isaac, and daughter, Rebecca. 

Attorney Jeremy Morley, in a statement released Monday, said Christopher Savoie -- accused of trying to kidnap his children after his ex-wife took them to Japan -- is being held without trial, interrogated without an attorney present and denied needed medical treatment for high blood pressure. Savoie has also been exposed to sleep deprivation, and denied private meetings with attorneys and phone calls to his wife, according to Morley, who said the way his client has been treated amounts to "torture." He acknowledged that some of the claims are based on second-hand information from Savoie's wife, Amy, saying she has communicated with people familiar with her husband's case. 

Police in Yanagawa, a rural town in southern Japan where Savoie is being held, denied the allegations in Morley's statement, saying Savoie gets regular visits by a physician and medicine as prescribed. 

A Yanagawa police officer, who declined to give his name citing departmental policy, told CNN that Savoie, like any other detainee, has a "dim" light in his cell for safety, and is assured to get 8 hours of sleep a day. 

Savoie is being questioned -- with an interpreter -- within the boundaries of Japanese law, which allows for suspects to be interviewed without the presence of an attorney, the officer said. The law also permits several rounds of questioning for hours on end, the officer said. 
Who is in jail?
Christopher Savoie is in jail