Japanese whales activists in court again
Staff and volunteers from Greenpeace Japan were in the streets of Aomori yesterday to spread the word about the whale meat scandal trial and Greenpeace's campaign to stop whaling.
Two of our activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, are facing up to 10 years in prison for their part in exposing a whale meat racket run by Japanese whalers with apparent official consent.
Lawyers for the Tokyo Two meanwhile were in court wrangling over the disclosure of important evidence -- stuff that the prosecution would prefer to keep secret.
We're confident that when the judges read all of the prosecution's evidence they will not only see that Junichi and Toru are innocent of any crime, but that their actions were in the greater public interest as they sought to expose criminal embezzlement within the taxpayer-funded whaling industry.
"There is a growing international concern about the case of the Tokyo
Two," said international human rights lawyer Richard Harvey. "This is
not just about whaling, nor human rights in Japan. It is about the
rights of all citizens to investigate and expose evidence of public
officials suspected of corruption and embezzlement.
"International law requires that Junichi and Toru be allowed to
present all documents and relevant evidence in the case so that the
court and the public will have a clear understanding of the reasons
for their actions," added Harvey.
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Comments
fight for our rights and for the whales
Posted by: riikka ketola | August 11, 2009 1:05 AM