Greenpeace calls for investigation into Japanese whale meat scandal to be re-opened

Greenpeace today filed papers calling on the Japanese Government to re-open its investigation into the whaling industry’s corruption as the Japanese whaling factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, returned from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The international environmental organisation is highlighting both the ongoing scandal of Japan’s whaling programme and the international community’s failure to deal with Japan’s unscrupulous behaviour at the International Whaling Commission.

While market ready boxes of whale meat from the so-called scientific Southern Ocean whale hunt were offloaded in port this morning, anti-whaling activist Junichi Sato lodged an appeal with Japan’s Prosecution Inquest Committee(1), calling on it to re-open and investigate allegations of embezzlement within the whaling industry raised by Greenpeace in 2008.

Sato and his colleague Toru Suzuki are on trial after exposing this scandal in the whaling industry(2), and their ongoing trial has provided further compelling evidence that crew, industry officials and even members of the Japanese Parliament were involved in the theft of whale meat from the taxpayer-funded whaling programme(3).

“Our initial allegations of embezzlement inside the whaling programme have been repeatedly upheld by industry insiders,” said Sato, Greenpeace Japan Programme Director. “It’s time for the cover ups, the lies, the corruption and the squandering of taxpayer money on this dishonourable whaling industry to end.”

With less than five percent of Japanese people occasionally eating whale and the remainder avoiding it altogether, the lack of demand for whale meat has seen the stockpile in frozen storage swell to well over 4,455 tonnes. The fleet's announced catch of 506 minke whales and one fin whale will provide over 1,800 tons of additional whale meat to add to the unwanted stockpile.

The industry only survives to line the pockets of Fisheries Agency bureaucrats, who use ‘golden parachutes’ to retire into high-paying jobs at the Institute of Cetacean Research, and could not do so without annual government subsidies of between 500 million and 1.2 billion Yen (around US$5.3 to US$12.9 million).

“Despite the ongoing shame of Japan’s hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and decades of obstructionism at the International Whaling Commission, key so-called conservation countries are proposing to reward the Japanese government by negotiating a return to commercial whaling,” said Sato.

“Enough is enough. It’s time Prime Minister Hatoyama lived up to his election promises, and ended the corruption and damage to Japan’s reputation by ensuring this voyage was the whaling fleet’s last.”
Notes to Editor
1) The Public Inquest Committee is a body of citizens tasked with reviewing decisions made by the Public Prosecutor if an appeal is lodged. Greenpeace is appealing the Prosecutor’s decision to drop the official investigation into the whale meat embezzlement scandal, particularly considering compelling evidence undermining the official story has come to light during witness testimony in the trial of the Tokyo Two. The submission will include:
* All evidence from the opening of the Tokyo Two trial on February 15.
* A summary of witness statements from the March 8 to 11 Tokyo Two trial days.
* 535,000 calls for justice for the Tokyo Two from people around the world.

2) In January 2008, Greenpeace began an investigation into insider allegations that organised whale meat embezzlement was being conducted by crew inside Japan's so-called ’scientific‘ whaling programme, which is funded by Japanese taxpayers. The informer was previously involved in the whaling programme, and following his advice Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki began an investigation, eventually discovering firm proof that cardboard boxes containing whale meat were being secretly shipped to the homes of whaling fleet crew - and then sold for personal profit. Junichi delivered a box of this whale meat to the Tokyo Prosecutors' Office in May 2008, and filed a report of embezzlement. However, the embezzlement investigation was dropped on 20 June - the same day that both men were arrested and then held for 26 days, 23 of which were without charge. They are currently facing up to ten years in prison for “theft” and “trespass”.
More:
http://www.greenpeace.org/tokyo-two

3) Prosecution and defence witness testimonies:
http://www.greenpeace.org/tokyo-two/whaling-on-trial.pdf