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."

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.