A step towards putting “Whaling on Trial”!
Today, an appeal was lodged with Japan’s Prosecution Inquest Committee, requesting that it review the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s decision to drop the investigation into embezzlement in the so-called “research” whaling program. A symbol of a healthy democracy and composed of ordinary citizens, the committee is charged with scrutinizing decisions made by the Public Prosecutor.
This marks an important step in refocusing the Tokyo Two campaign on the real issue ? the embezzlement of whale meat. We strongly hope that the committee will recommend for the investigation to be reopened. There are compelling reasons why it should never have been closed in the first place.
After being exposed by Greenpeace in 2008, the official investigation into the whale meat embezzlement scandal was launched on May 15, only to be dropped suddenly on June 20 without any explanation, and on the very same day that Toru and Junichi (known as the Tokyo Two) were arrested.
The appeal submitted to the committee today, called for a review of the prosecutor’s decision on four grounds:
1) The Prosecutor’s office appears to have ignored significant inconsistencies between statements made by crew members of the whaling ship Nisshin Maru and claims made by Kyodo Senpaku and the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), leaving their explanation of the scandal lacking credibility.
2) Kyodo Senpaku and the ICR claimed that the meat given to workers was a “souvenir” which was legitimately paid for, however, this excuse appears to be unsupported, as it is not backed up by the ICR’s balance sheets. If what they say is true, then the souvenirs should add up to nine million yen for Southern Ocean whaling alone, but this figure is absent.
3) There is strong evidence to suggest that embezzlement involved not only crewmembers, but also ICR members and officials on board the Nisshin Maru.
4) On June 19, 2008 Greenpeace supplied significant new “insider” information to the prosecutor, but this could not have been investigated in any meaningful way as the case was dropped the next day.
The submission to the committee today was preceded by the recent report of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which unequivocally recognises that the actions of the Tokyo Two were in in the greater public interest as they sought to expose criminal embezzlement within the taxpayer-funded whaling industry, pertaining to the fundamental issue of Government transparency.
Hundreds of thousands of people from across the world have passed their verdict on this politically motivated case. They have called for a fair trial for Junichi and Toru, for the Government of Japan to respect international human rights, and for the embezzlement investigation to be reopened.
For more information on prosecution inquest committee go to :
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200905210064.html
Call for the fair trial worldwide: Berlin, Germany
