Greenpeace exposes Stolen Whale Meat Scandal

Tokyo, May 15th 2008: Following this morning's revelation by Greenpeace
of large-scale corruption within the Japanese government-sponsored
Southern Ocean whaling programme, the environmental group delivered a
complaint to the Tokyo district Public Prosecutor's Office, who gave
assurance that the details of the case will be reviewed, pending a
decision to mount a criminal investigation.

Following conflicting responses from the government's Fisheries Agency
(FAJ), the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) and Kyodo Senpaku,
Greenpeace this evening requested a meeting with Japanese government
Cabinet Secretary, Nobutaka Machimura.

News reports of reactions from the three whaling organisations involved
are full of contradictions, with Kyodo Senpaku admitting that
"souvenirs are given to distribute among neighbours" in one interview,
after denying it in an earlier one. The ICR admitted the crew get small
gifts, but earlier the FAJ denied that the practice occurs, and asked
the ICR to investigate the allegations – essentially asking the ICR to
investigate its own programme.

According to the testimony of one of the informers, there is a big
difference between "souvenir" meat and the stolen whale meat. The
souvenir boxes contain frozen meat and are delivered by a different
courier service called Yamato Courier service. The stolen whale meat is
salted and shipped by a completely separate company.

"The government and fleet operators have today admitted that they don
not use all the meat from the expedition to offset taxpayer subsidies,"
said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Whale Campaign Coordinator. "But
they cannot claim tonnes of stolen meat are nothing more than a few
small gifts, in order to avoid an investigation."

Greenpeace has requested the meeting with Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka
Machimura in order to discuss the dossier of gathered evidence, and the
need for a public investigation.

"This is taxpayer's money that is being squandered, and
government-appointed bodies failing to take responsibility for it,"
commented Junichi Sato, head of Greenpeace Japan's Ocean campaign. "The
Cabinet Office oversees all these departments and must take on
responsibility for ensuring there is a full public enquiry."