Japanese whaling activists fight to disclose
documents
14-11-2009 ROBIN POWELL, The Sydney Morning Herald, USA
TOKYO: Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are colleagues in the Japanese branch of Greenpeace, but their bail conditions mean they cannot meet without a lawyer present. The two face possible jail terms following an investigation they conducted last year to expose alleged corruption in the Government-sponsored whaling industry.
Junichi Sato ... awaiting Supreme Court ruling. Photo: Greenpeace
The trial will not open until next year but a pivotal decision is now in the hands of the Supreme Court, and they believe their fight against the whale hunt is at its most important phase.
Mr Sato, a Greenpeace policy adviser, and Mr Suzuki, an actions campaigner, conducted a four-month investigation into the use of meat brought back to shore after the annual whale hunt.
Japanese whaling is carried out under a provision of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling of 1946, which allows for the animals to be killed for scientific research and the leftover meat to be "processed" as that country sees fit.
The International Whaling Commission says the program has yielded some worthwhile data on Antarctic minke whale populations, but it has also called on Japan not to use its lethal methods in the name of science.
The Japanese policy has drawn strong criticism from environmental groups and governments, with Australia one of its most outspoken critics.
Mr Sato and Mr Suzuki said they had discovered that a 23.5-kilogram box of prime unesu whale meat had been sent by a crew member of the whaling vessel the Nisshin Maru to his family, marked as "cardboard" and "personal belongings".
They presented this box to the public prosecutor, with corroborating documents. One document contained testimony from a crew member who said about 120 people from the Nisshin Maru had sent whale meat home in similar boxes, sometimes totalling as much as 300 kilograms per person. He also claimed it was given to officials who were there to ensure that the hunt complied with "scientific" standards.
The Tokyo prosecutors said they would investigate. But in June last year they arrested Mr Sato and Mr Suzuki for trespass and theft. They were interrogated for more than three weeks and charged with stealing whale meat.
"They treated us like violent people," Mr Suzuki said. "In the interrogation room the handcuffs were taken off, but they tied a thick rope around my stomach and tied me to a chair."
Since the beginning of this month, the Supreme Court in Tokyo has been considering a request by the defence team for the full disclosure of whaling documents that have been heavily censored or not released at all.
These include witness statements and details of the buying and selling of whale meat. In the Aomori District Court and the High Court, prosecution lawyers argued successfully that these facts were irrelevant to the case, and that making them public would violate privacy laws.
Mr Sato and Mr Suzuki say the facts and figures are the case. "If the Supreme Court decides against us, then it will have a major influence on the outcome of the trial," Mr Sato said.
Their defence rests on the legal principle of justification: that it can be legal to commit a lesser crime in order to expose a greater one. Theft and trespass, they hope, will become the lesser crime if evidence shows whale meat is being siphoned off in large quantities and sold outside the proper channels, or even used as bribes.
But without disclosure of the documents, the pair have little chance of demonstrating this.
The judges could rule at any time. Meanwhile, the departure of the Japanese whaling fleet is expected in about a week.
Public support for Greenpeace has fallen in Japan after the arrests and the Tokyo branch has been told its status as a non-profit organisation is under review.
However, the new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, may not want the closure of a high-profile campaign group to stain his green credentials.
(Bron: http://www.smh.com.au/)
(Bron foto: Sydney Morning Herald)
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