Tokyo two Pre-trail hearings continue: A proper defence requires all the evidence says Greenpeace

Aomori, Japan, August 4, 2009 – While over three million visitors are hitting the streets of Aomori to see the colourful floats of the Nebuta festival, the Tokyo Two defence counsel is in court wrangling over the disclosure of important evidence.

The ongoing trial against Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki has seen the prosecution work to conceal as much evidence as possible. This strategy appears to be running out of steam, however, as the Aomori court this week directed the prosecutor to disclose all evidence relating to the case to the judges, so they can decide if it is relevant for inclusion in the case.

Greenpeace is confident that when the judges read all of the prosecution's evidence they will not only see that Junichi and Toru are innocent of any crime, but that their actions were in the greater public interest as they sought to expose criminal embezzlement within the taxpayer-funded whaling industry.

"There is a growing international concern about the case of the Tokyo Two," said international human rights lawyer Richard Harvey. "This is not just about whaling, nor human rights in Japan. It is about the rights of all citizens to investigate and expose evidence of public officials suspected of corruption and embezzlement.

"International law requires that Junichi and Toru be allowed to present all documents and relevant evidence in the case so that the court and the public will have a clear understanding of the reasons for their actions," added Harvey.

"We in the international human rights community therefore look to the Aomori Court to ensure that all their rights of defence are respected and to make clear to the world that all they have ever sought to do was to expose public corruption."

Due to the issues surrounding the disclosure of evidence, the court has again extended the pre-trial process with another hearing on November 20.

While the court debates the disclosure of evidence, Greenpeace activists in traditional Japanese Yukata dress have distributed over 6,500 fans calling on the Japanese public to support a fair trial for the Junichi and Toru.

If this is to be a fair trial and the court is determined to uphold the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Japan is a party to, then Greenpeace hopes that it will order the full disclosure of all evidence related to the Tokyo Two case.

Greenpeace is an independent, global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment, and to promote peace.

looking for: a few good techies

Hi there! The latest Greenpeace campaign - Cool IT Challenge - is looking for a few good techies to take on the IT industry and pressure leading companies to show some climate leadership. We've seen some positive signs from certain companies and bold claims that the IT industry could cut 15% from global carbon emissions by 2020 - a very important contribution. But the potential of IT is so much more than that. The Cool IT Challenge ranks the CEOs of top IT companies on their climate leadership, then asks techies to bet on those most likely to improve their scores and exert some pressure on their CEOs to improve their odds. Techies are the primary audience, but of course - everyone who is concerned for the state of our climate is welcome to place their bets on the IT industry too! Greenpeace webbies all over the world are getting in on some SEO ranking, please join in! Here is a message that was sent out yesterday to Greenpeace webbies from Eoin (leading online communications for the campaign): Help us get No.1 place in Google for a CEO's name by the end of this week!!! Don't just promote it -- help us demonstrate how the campaign works! Please include this exact hyperlink in your blog or webstory: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/cool-it-challenge/kuniaki-nozoe-fujitsu Linking to this name: Kuniaki Nozoe You could do it like this: ...Bla bla bla... We're betting on top IT executives in the US, Europe and Japan -- like Fujitsu President Kuniaki Nozoe and Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz -- to be climate advocates in their countries. ... Bla bla bla If enough of us link to the Cool IT Challenge page for Kuniaki Nozoe this week from related webpages (i.e. not just a random text link, try to put it in a blog or webstory or review about the campaign), I **BET** (I'm really getting into this!) that we can be No.1 in Google for this man's name by Sunday. Are you in? -Eoin Thinking we can't pull off the SEO magic on CEO of Fujitsu Kuniaki Nozoe? Google 'French nuclear success' - and as usual, one last reminder to use the greenpeacebuzz tag! Best, Laura Kenyon Online Marketing and Promotions Specialist @ Greenpeace International Twitter Facebook Making Waves Blog

Greenpeace parody video release

Japanese court to hear evidence on whale meat embezzlement

Aomori, Japan, May 15, 2009 -- The Aomori district court today delivered a setback to the Japanese government's attempts to cover up an embezzlement scandal in the so-called "scientific" Southern Ocean whaling programme. The court has agreed to hear key evidence the
prosecution has fought to keep out of the trial of Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki.

Sato and Suzuki are being prosecuted, and risk up to ten years in jail if convicted, after they exposed a major corruption scandal surrounding the Japanese government-sponsored Southern Ocean whaling programme. The two removed a box of embezzled whale meat from a mail
depot, and presented it to Japan's Public Prosecutor to prove the existence of corruption in the government-subsidised whaling programme.

The prosecutor had tried to paint the actions of the defendants as a simple case of theft, arguing that all evidence related to the underlying embezzlement scandal should be ruled irrelevant. The court, however, indicated that the evidence of embezzlement will have a place in the trial.

"In this trial, we want to establish that what Junichi and Toru did was to corroborate information provided by whistleblowers regarding embezzlement within the Kyodo Senpaku whaling fleet," said defence lawyer Yuichi Kaido.

"With the prosecutor's opinion being rejected by the court, we have gained a foothold in this case and the opportunity to prove that there was indeed embezzlement of whale meat by employees."

Furthermore, the court also requested the disclosure of additional evidence of embezzlement held by the prosecutor's office that has not yet been made public. This could possibly include key statements made to police by employees of Kyodo Senpaku, the company contracted to
carry out the Southern Ocean whaling programme.

"The government was hoping to bury this scandal by putting the messengers on trial," said Jun Hoshikawa, Greenpeace Japan Executive Director. "However, as more evidence of embezzlement comes to light, at the end of the day it will be whaling that is on trial."

[Press-releases] Neste Oil’s plans for global leadership in palm oil diesel will drive massive rainforest destruction and climate change

Neste Oil's plans for global leadership in palm oil diesel will drive massive rainforest destruction and climate change

PORVOO, FINLAND – 12 May, 2009: This morning, 32 Greenpeace activists from Finland and Sweden are demonstrating in a palm oil diesel refinery of Neste Oil in Porvoo, Finland, where they hung a banner with the text 'Neste Oil – destroying the rainforests'. Neste Oil, an oil refining company largely owned by the Finnish government, is set - over the next three years - to become the world's largest consumer of palm oil. This expansion will lead to massive deforestation and contribute to global warming.

Palm oil production is the leading cause of deforestation in Southeast Asia; the clearance and burning of rainforests and peatlands for oil palm plantations releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide. As a result, Indonesia is now the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. This rampant deforestation is also pushing species like the orang-utan and the Sumatran tiger to the brink of extinction.

Greenpeace is urging the Finnish government to use its influence to stop Neste Oil using palm oil, and not to subsidise palm oil for fuel in the future. The most significant way to reduce transport emissions is to make cars more energy efficient and to develop a low-energy and low-carbon transport system.

Neste Oil uses palm oil as the main component of the NExBTL-diesel and markets it as an environmentally-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. This 'green' marketing contradicts the warnings that climate scientists issued last year that palm oil grown on deforested land is many times more damaging to the climate than conventional fuels.

The company has publicly announced its plans to dramatically scale up its production and has recently invested in new NExBTL refineries in Finland, Singapore and the Netherlands, due online in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. If these plans go ahead, the company will require at least 1.5 million metric tons of palm oil a year, making it the biggest single consumer of palm oil worldwide. Based on current yields, this increase in demand would require at least 325,000 hectares of oil palm plantations, equivalent to an area significantly larger than Luxembourg.

"Palm oil biodiesel is not a solution to climate change. It actually makes the problem worse if rainforests are cut down to grow the palm oil to fuel our cars. Neste Oil's expansion plans are a major climate threat increasing the pressure for deforestation in Southeast Asia and endangering species like the orang-utan," said Greenpeace Nordic palm oil campaigner, Maija Suomela.

"If the Finnish government is serious about tackling climate change, it must stop investing in forest destruction and instead invest in renewable energy solutions, such as waste-based raw materials, and provide significant funding for rainforest protection."

Neste Oil claims to source all of its palm oil from established plantations in Malaysia. When asked by Greenpeace, the company refused to provide any evidence of traceability in its entire supply chain from the plantation to the refinery. It is also failing to provide any indication of where it intends to source future palm oil supply. The Swedish gas company OKQ8 has already refused to sell Neste Oil's palm oil diesel and a recent trial planned for Stockholm's ferry traffic was cancelled in December.

Greenpeace is calling on Finland to contribute almost € 1 billion every year, by 2020, to developing countries such as Indonesia, so that they can better cope with the effects of climate change and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by protecting forests and developing clean energy supply.

This is its share of € 110 billion that the EU and other rich countries must invest as part of the new global climate deal in Copenhagen, to be agreed at the end of the year.

Final Feeding Frenzy of a Failing Fishery

Karaburun, Turkey – 11 May, 2009: Disregarding agreed bluefin tuna quotas, the Turkish government has set itself a unilateral bluefin tuna quota and broken its international commitments. The announcement comes just weeks into the 2009 bluefin tuna fishing season, and just over a week after Greenpeace uncovered an illegal landing of between 5 and 10 tonnes of juvenile bluefin tuna in the Turkish port of Karaburun(1).

Management of bluefin tuna is entrusted to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), an intergovernmental organisation in which the European Union is an active and influential member. The Turkish government objected to the bluefin tuna quota decided and agreed upon at the ICCAT meeting last November.(2)

Turkey currently operates the largest Mediterranean fleet fishing for bluefin tuna, an endangered species facing imminent collapse(3). Alongside ICCAT quotas, a minimum legal landing size is set at 30 kg to allow for at least one reproduction cycle before any catch. Catches below this minimum legal size limit have recently been reported by both Turkish and Italian media(4).

"Ignoring quota limits means that Turkey will simply bring an end to the bluefin tuna business even faster and once and for all, through the commercial extinction of the species," said Banu Dokmecibasi, Greenpeace Mediterranean Oceans Campaigner, in Turkey.

Since 2006, scientists have been ringing the alarm bell on the dire state of the bluefin tuna stock. They have advised not to fish above a maximum of 15,000 tonnes, and to protect the species' spawning grounds during the crucial months of May and June. Not only are the spawning grounds rampaged by industrial fleets every year, but the actual haul has been estimated at 61,100 tonnes in 2007(5), twice the legal catch agreed that year, and more than four times the recommended level to avoid collapse of the bluefin tuna population. This year, a 'recovery plan' for bluefin tuna will still allow legal fishing that is 47% above the upper sustainable limit(6).

"The scientific advice shows that this so-called recovery plan would be better called a fisheries suicide pact," said François Provost, Greenpeace International Oceans Campaigner. "Turkey, and all other fishing nations including European countries, should immediately close the bluefin fishery until its management is based on science, fishing capacity is decreased to sustainable levels and marine reserves are established to protect all the species' breeding grounds."

Greenpeace advocates the creation of a network of no-take marine reserves, protecting 40% of the world's oceans, as the long term solution to the overfishing of tuna and other species, and the recovery of our overexploited oceans.

Greenpeace Appeals Against Japanese Government Censorship

Tokyo - Greenpeace today lodged an appeal against government censorship, calling on the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) to release uncensored copies of whale meat sales documents obtained by Greenpeace through a 2008 Freedom of Information request.

The documents are supposed to detail whale meat sales as well as contracts between the FAJ and the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR). However, what the FAJ released on January 19 this year was so heavily censored almost every line was obscured, rendering the documents worthless.

"These blacked-out documents represent the level of secrecy surrounding the Government-funded whaling programme," said Jun Hoshikawa, Greenpeace Japan Executive Director. "They are symbolic of the FAJ's willingness to breach its own promise of transparency and
accountability."

Co-signed by Shokichi Kina, an Upper House Diet member from the Democratic Party of Japan, Greenpeace's formal appeal comes as Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, known as the Tokyo Two, prepare for the next stage of their court case in Aomori. The two are on trial for exercising their duty as concerned citizens and exposing wrongdoing inside a public organisation.

Despite the current economic crisis - the worst in a century in Japan - the FAJ continues to subsidise the ICR's so-called scientific whaling expeditions to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to the tune of ¥500 million (US$5 million) a year. Taxpayers are footing the bill for this unprofitable enterprise, yet the FAJ has denied the public the right to know how their money is being spent.

"The public has an overriding right to information on misconduct by government officials. By exposing an embezzlement ring inside the Japanese whaling fleet, the Tokyo Two acted within the long-standing traditions of international human rights, and in the best interests of the Japanese public," said international human rights lawyer Richard Harvey.

The uncensored truth is that this taxpayer-funded whaling programme is scientifically bankrupt, ecologically and economically unsustainable, and neither needed or wanted by anyone outside the whaling industry and a handful of bureaucrats.

Greenpeace is an independent, global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment, and to promote peace.

Fiddling in Rome While Economy Slumps: Japan's Whaling Industry Continues Spending Spree

Despite the worst recession in a generation, Japanese government officials arrive in Rome this week to defend a multi-billion yen whaling programme that is reviled by the international community and unwanted by taxpayers at home.

Japan has been so severely stricken by the financial crisis that last week it was reported that the government was even cutting the cost of making silver sake cups presented to people on their 100th birthday. In February, the government announced a drop in exports of 45% on the same period last year, while key industries are cutting both costs and jobs and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped 3.3% in the last quarter of 2008 - twice the decline of US GDP. Yet, the Government of Japan is stubbornly refusing to consider cancelling the Southern Ocean whaling programme, which costs the taxpayer billions of yen.

"The Japanese government's whaling programme is a scientific sham and an economic disaster," said Greenpeace International Whales Campaigner, Sara Holden. "The future of the International Whaling Commission will be debated this week in Rome; the only viable future is one that protects whale populations, promotes non-lethal research and invests in real conservation of marine life. Japan needs to realise that another year of needlessly killing whales, endangering the pristine Antarctic environment and squandering its taxpayers' money is no basis for negotiation", Holden concluded.

In addition to the 1.2 billion yen annual taxpayer subsidy for the whaling programme, billions more are spent as part of the government's foreign aid budget to recruit countries to the International Whaling Commission. The Institute for Cetacean Research, which devises the so-called research programme, has outstanding loans to the government of 3.2 billion yen.