Chris Hay, Carmen Gravatt deliver 1,300 letters to the Japanese Embassy in Wellington New Zealand
Greenpeace delivered a crate containing over 1,300 letters to the
Japanese Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, and Foreign Minister,
Masahiko Koumura, calling for the immediate release of Junichi Sato
and Toru Suzuki - the two activists at the centre of the "stolen
whale meat scandal" who are currently being held without charge by
Japanese authorities.
Over 170,000 people from around the world have now sent protest
letters demanding the release of the unjustly incarcerated duo, who
were arrested on June 20 for the alleged theft of a box of whale
meat.
Following a four-month undercover investigation, Greenpeace
Japan revealed evidence of an embezzlement ring involving crew
members on board the whaling factory ship, Nisshin Maru. Crew
members were openly taking the best cuts of whale meat during the
so-called scientific hunt, smuggling it ashore disguised as
personal luggage and then passing it to traders for illegal
sales.
Working from information given by former and current Kyodo
Senpaku (1) employees , Greenpeace gathered significant evidence to
support the embezzlement charge, including a box containing 23.5kg
of salted 'prime' whale meat, worth up to US$3,000.
The box was intercepted in transit and its contents documented
before being handed over to Japan's public prosecutor as evidence.
However, despite cooperating with authorities right from the start
and handing over the box as part of the case, Sato and Suzuki have
been arrested under allegations of theft, while the public
prosecutor has dismissed the case against Kyodo Senpaku.
During the arrest Japanese 40 police raided Greenpeace's Tokyo
office, confiscating a computer server, mobile phones, and
financial records. Staff member's homes were also raided.
"Clearly Greenpeace Japan has touched a nerve with the exposure
of wide scale corruption at the heart of Japan's whaling industry,
and the authorities response is to shoot the messenger rather than
investigating the real crime," said Greenpeace New Zealand
executive director Bunny McDiarmid. "Considering the arrests also
happened on the eve of the International Whaling Commission (IWC)
meeting in Chile, this situation smacks of politics and
intimidation."
It is an essential principle of democracy that those who act to
expose wrongdoing in government should not be subject to
intimidation or harassment, no matter how powerful the forces they
oppose.
"Junichi and Toru have been cooperating with police since the
very start and took great personal risk in exposing this crime.
They should not be punished for that," said McDiarmid.
Greenpeace is calling for the release of Sato and Toru, an
investigation into the use of taxpayer money for private gain, and
for an end to whaling in the internationally designated Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Other contacts: In New Zealand:
Bunny McDiarmid - Greenpeace Executive Director - 021 838 183
Greg McNevin - Greenpeace Communications Officer - 021 577 556
Internationally:
Keiko Shirokawa: Greenpeace Japan Media, in Tokyo: + 81 90 3470 7884
Mike Townsley, Greenpeace International, in Amsterdam: +31 621 296 918
VVPR info: Images from today’s event in Wellington are available at:
http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/media/
Notes: (1) Kyodo Senpaku, the company that operates the whaling ships.
Exp. contact date: 2008-07-16 00:00:00