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Tokyo, Japan — Representatives of millions of Greenpeace supporters from around the world arrived at the doorstep of the Japanese Prime Minister in Tokyo today to demand an end to the political persecution of two Greenpeace anti-whaling activists, and an end to Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean. Embassy actions are scheduled around the world today and tomorrow.
The co-defendants include the chief whale-defenders (officially, Executive Directors) of Greenpeace offices from Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil, USA, and the Nordic countries, as well as Australian ex-whaling captain Paddy Hart.
Condemned by Amnesty International
Marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the group declared themselves 'co-defendants' in the trial of Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki. The two Greenpeace activists exposed corruption in the taxpayer-funded whaling industry, but were themselves arrested in a crackdown on Greenpeace itself in Tokyo.
A quarter of a million Greenpeace supporters wrote to the Prime Minister to demand their release. The arrest was denounced by Amnesty International, and fits a pattern of repression of the rights of free speech in Japan which has been condemned by the United Nations.
The group challenged the Prime Minister to set Junichi and Toru free, and end the corrupt whaling program, or order their own arrest for daring to oppose the whaling program. 30,000 people have also signed petitions declaring themselves complicit in Junichi and Toru's actions, and stated that if defending whales is a crime, they, too, are guilty.
Whaling on trial
"We want Prime Minister Aso to know that if Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are to be tried for exposing whale meat embezzlement and working to end the killing of whales in the Japanese Government's 'research' program in the Southern Ocean, then we should all be arrested," said Jun Hoshikawa, Executive Director of Greenpeace Japan. "It's not Greenpeace activists who should be put on trial; it is the government-backed whaling program in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary."Following a Greenpeace undercover investigation in May 2008 that exposed the embezzlement of whale meat from the taxpayer-funded whaling fleet, Japanese authorities responded with a politically-motivated prosecution, arresting Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki and raiding the Greenpeace Japan office in June 2008. They have now been awaiting trial for 172 days under bail conditions which prevent them from continuing their Greenpeace campaign work to end whaling. The trial is expected to begin early next year; they are both facing up to 10 years imprisonment.Meanwhile, events have been happening already -- and will continue throughout today and tomorrow -- at Japanese embassies in Brazil, the United States, New Zealand, Argentina, France, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, Spain, Greece, Canada, Italy and on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Activists will themselves as 'co-defendants', by asking the Japanese government to "Arrest Me, Too" and to put "Whaling on Trial".
The co-defendants include the chief whale-defenders (officially, Executive Directors) of Greenpeace offices from Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil, USA, and the Nordic countries, as well as Australian ex-whaling captain Paddy Hart.
Condemned by Amnesty International
Marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the group declared themselves 'co-defendants' in the trial of Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki. The two Greenpeace activists exposed corruption in the taxpayer-funded whaling industry, but were themselves arrested in a crackdown on Greenpeace itself in Tokyo.
A quarter of a million Greenpeace supporters wrote to the Prime Minister to demand their release. The arrest was denounced by Amnesty International, and fits a pattern of repression of the rights of free speech in Japan which has been condemned by the United Nations.
The group challenged the Prime Minister to set Junichi and Toru free, and end the corrupt whaling program, or order their own arrest for daring to oppose the whaling program. 30,000 people have also signed petitions declaring themselves complicit in Junichi and Toru's actions, and stated that if defending whales is a crime, they, too, are guilty.
Whaling on trial
"We want Prime Minister Aso to know that if Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are to be tried for exposing whale meat embezzlement and working to end the killing of whales in the Japanese Government's 'research' program in the Southern Ocean, then we should all be arrested," said Jun Hoshikawa, Executive Director of Greenpeace Japan. "It's not Greenpeace activists who should be put on trial; it is the government-backed whaling program in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary."Following a Greenpeace undercover investigation in May 2008 that exposed the embezzlement of whale meat from the taxpayer-funded whaling fleet, Japanese authorities responded with a politically-motivated prosecution, arresting Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki and raiding the Greenpeace Japan office in June 2008. They have now been awaiting trial for 172 days under bail conditions which prevent them from continuing their Greenpeace campaign work to end whaling. The trial is expected to begin early next year; they are both facing up to 10 years imprisonment.Meanwhile, events have been happening already -- and will continue throughout today and tomorrow -- at Japanese embassies in Brazil, the United States, New Zealand, Argentina, France, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, Spain, Greece, Canada, Italy and on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Activists will themselves as 'co-defendants', by asking the Japanese government to "Arrest Me, Too" and to put "Whaling on Trial".
Reposted from:Greenpeace.org
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