Pair held over whale meat theft

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-21  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

JAPANESE police arrested two Greenpeace activists yesterday on suspicion of stealing about 23 kilograms of whale meat that the environmentalists said had been illegally siphoned by whalers from government-backed hunts.

Greenpeace members Junichi Sato, 31, and Toru Suzuki, 41, allegedly stole a container with the meat from a postal company warehouse in Aomori, northern Japan, in April, police said in a statement.

The Japanese government kills about 1,000 whales a year under a program allowed under international rules, and sells the meat as food. Greenpeace and other whaling opponents say the program is a cover for commercial hunting, which has been banned for major species since 1986.

Greenpeace presented the meat to authorities last month, saying it showed whalers operating on government-funded hunts were stealing whale meat for their own private use or to sell. Greenpeace acknowledged taking the meat from the postal company, but said it did so to obtain evidence for its probe and, therefore, did not constitute theft. Greenpeace says the container belonged to a whaling ship crew member.

Greenpeace estimates the meat it took is worth as much as 350,000 yen (US$3,300).

But postal firm Seino Holdings Co Ltd said the two Greenpeace activists illegally broke into its warehouse and stole the container. The company said yesterday it hadn't decided on whether to demand compensation from Greenpeace.

Apart from alleged theft, Sato and Suzuki were arrested for illegally breaking and entering, and authorities also searched Greenpeace's office in Tokyo.

Yasuhi Tadano, a lawyer for Greenpeace, denounced the arrests. "The arrests were unjust," Tadano said. Greenpeace Executive Director Jun Hoshikawa called the arrests "an intimidation tactic" by the Japanese government.