Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, known as the Tokyo Two, exposed widespread corruption in Japan's whaling programme – in return, they have been handed a one year suspended prison sentence.
Greenpeace is appealing against this totally unjust, politically motivated sentence. Junichi and Toru have taken great personal risks to investigate and expose embezzlement at the heart of Japan's tax-funded whaling industry. They intercepted one of numerous boxes of whale meat embezzled from the whaling programme as evidence. These boxes were taken for private use by the crew of the Nisshin Maru in violation of the whaling programme's regulations, and this amounts to a misuse of public funds.
It is clear that Junichi and Toru were doing the right thing by exposing this corruption, however the prosecutors argued that they commited the crimes of theft and trespass.
"Activists are not criminals, and to treat them as such has a chilling effect in society, undermining the quality of democracy," said Greenpeace International Executive Director Dr. Kumi Naidoo, who travelled to Japan to hear the verdict. "The freedom to peacefully expose wrongdoing is not only a crucial part of any democracy, it is a right that must be defended. Greenpeace will continue to make this case a global priority until this unjust conviction is overturned."Please continue to stand by Junichi and Toru: send an e-mail to Japan's Foreign Minister about this harsh verdict now. In addition, why not also send a letter to the Japanese embassy in the UK.
And read more about the verdict here.
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