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Greenpeace is urging the Japanese Government to drop the politically motivated trial of the two Greenpeace activists Junichi and Toru, and to end the lethal whaling program in the Southern Ocean.
The event coincides with a series of international Greenpeace activities on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These activities highlight the truth behind the arrest of Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, known as the “Tokyo Two”.
Ex-whaler joins call for an end to the whale hunt
Meanwhile in Tokyo, Australian ex-whaling captain Paddy Hart has joined Greenpeace Executive Directors from around the world at the office of the Japanese Prime Minister. The international delegation is asking Japan to end the whale hunt in the Southern Ocean and the persecution of the Tokyo Two.
“I'm in Tokyo to assure whalers that there is life after whaling. In Australia alone, AU$300 million are made every year from whale watching – hundreds of times more than was ever made by the whaling industry.”
Paddy Hart, Australian ex-whaler
Paddy Hart used to be a master and gunner at the Cheynes Beach Whaling Station in Albany, Western Australia until it ceased operation in 1978 – following Greenpeace protests. Paddy is now opposed to whaling, and says that Junichi and Toru should not have been arrested.
Paddy says, “I am proud of my time at sea, but it was 30 years ago. Times have changed, and the world has moved on – whaling no longer has a place in the world.”
Background: Junichi and Toru
Junichi and Toru were arrested in June 2008 following a Greenpeace undercover investigation that exposed the corruption in the Japanese whaling industry. They are now under strict bail conditions, which prevent them from continuing their Greenpeace campaign work in Japan to end whaling. The trial is expected to begin early next year and they both face up to 10 years imprisonment.
“It's the Japanese Government-backed lethal whaling program and not Greenpeace activists who should be put on trial. If Junichi and Toru are to be tried for exposing the whale meat scandal, then we should all be arrested,” said Reece Turner, Greenpeace whales campaigner in Australia.
Greenpeace is holding simultaneous protest activities at Japanese embassies in the USA, New Zealand, Argentina, France, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico and Italy. Activists are declaring themselves “co-defendants”; they are asking the Japanese government to “Put Whaling on Trial" or “Arrest Me Too”.
