The sentence, which would be the longest jail term for any
Greenpeace activist in the organisation's 40 year history, was
demanded by the Aomori District Court Prosecutor during yesterday's
summing up of the trial of Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki charged
with trespass and theft.
Corroborating testimonies from whaling industry whistleblowers
backing the activists' allegations and contradictory testimony from
prosecution witnesses have failed to prevent the severely
disproportionate sentence being requested, says Greenpeace.
While investigating allegations of systemic corruption in
Japan's publicly-funded Southern Ocean whaling programme, Sato and
Suzuki intercepted whale meat that whistleblowers claimed was
destined for the black market, and used it as evidence to request
an official investigation. This was dropped without reason by the
authorities while Sato and Suzuki, now known as the Tokyo Two, were
arrested. Their detention, interrogation and charges have been
condemned by
international human rights organisations (1), legal experts and
politicians, including Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
"We acted peacefully and only in the public interest - to gain
evidence of embezzlement of whale meat paid for by the Japanese
public," stated Sato. "As a signatory to international human rights
treaties, Japan must uphold our right to take such action and we
trust the court will recognise this in its decision."
"The actions of Junichi and Toru have been peaceful at all times
and for the public good. It is deeply worrying that any jail term
might be imposed," said Greenpeace International executive Director
Kumi Naidoo. "Human rights experts have considered this case to be
politically motivated, and another example of a growing global
trend of authorities using the law to silence inconvenient
opposition."
The demand for jail comes just as crucial talks are to begin at
the International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco. More than
half a million messages of concern have already been sent to the
Japanese Government since the arrest of the two men in June
2008.
"With new leadership taking power today we have an opportunity
to wipe away two years of inaction by our leaders," commented
Suzuki. "New Prime Minister Naoto Kan needs to prove that he can do
what Yukio Hatoyama could not, and prove Japan could be a world
leader in defending the rights and importance of civil
society."
A verdict date is still to be confirmed.
Greenpeace is an independent, global campaigning organisation
that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and
conserve the environment, and to promote peace.
Other contacts: Karli Thomas, Greenpeace NZ oceans campaigner, 021 905 582
Phil Crawford, Greenpeace NZ media & communications, 021 22 99 594
Greg McNevin - Greenpeace International Communications, +81 (0) 80
5416 6506, 
Sara Holden – Tokyo Two Campaign Coordinator, + 31 (0) 6 1500 7406,
Notes: 1) In March 2009, Amnesty International lodged a complaint about the treatment of Sato and Suzuki to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary detention. The Working Group asked the Japanese government to explain its actions, however, the authorities limited their response to explaining Japan's criminal justice system and claiming, without substantive explanation, that the 'source' was factually incorrect.
The Working Group did not concur, stating that the Japanese authorities have breached articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 18 and 19 of the ICCPR. It also expressed concern that articles 2, 10 and 14 of the ICCPR, relating to the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial, have not been respected.
The full opinion can be found here: http://www.greenpeace.org/tokyo-two/wgad-opinion
Exp. contact date: 2010-07-09 00:00:00