Greenpeace

Today, T2 co-defendants Junichi and Toru finished their testimony to the Aomori District Court. When questioned, they demonstrated their commitment to openness and transparency — a commitment the whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, the prosecution, and the Fisheries Agency of Japan do not share. 

Step by step, the T2 outlined the process of uncovering the whale meat embezzlement scandal. During their investigation, which took place in 2008, informants' statements were confirmed, shipments tracked, on-the-street interviews were conducted with underground whale meat vendors, and crew lists and shipment records were cross-checked. All of this meticulous leg work led to a box, the physical confirmation of embezzlement. The contents were unesu, or "whale bacon," which confirmed an open-secret of embezzlement taking place on the Nisshin Maru ship.

Junichi explained the roles on the investigation team. He described sending a box through courier to help track the shipments. Toru recalled fact-checking on tips from informants. You can read about this in the evidence from Greenpeace.

This afternoon, in an emotional moment, Toru recounted the events surrounding his arrest. In numbers: 75 police officers were sent to arrest the T2. Eight men searched Toru's home. He spent 26 days in custody — 23 without charges and under interrogation without lawyers. He lost six kilos in the first four days of a nine-day hunger strike in protest of the disregard by police of the Greenpeace explanation of the investigation.  

Toru was told by one policeman that it usually takes only two officers to arrest a person for something like taking a box. The police's reaction during the T2 arrest versus their reaction to the embezzlement evidence was disproportionate, to say the least. When asked why he didn't take the box to the police, he told the court that from his experience in the motorcycle trading business that police would not move on a tip — especially one that involved government and DIET (parliament) members, or even so-called "research whaling." It would be necessary to mobilize media and public pressure to secure a proper investigation. One officer told Toru that if it weren't for his occupation as a policeman, he would tell Toru he had done a great job.

The prosecution didn't have much to say, and probably only spent 20 minutes in total cross-examination of the T2. Their questions didn't lead to much either, and the lead prosecutor once even posed the befuddling argument: Well, if crew members, Kyodo Senpaku, and the Fisheries Agency of Japan all know about it and it is not a secret then it cannot be embezzlement.

I suppose the prosecutor must not consider very significant the idea that individuals are personally profiting off of a taxpayer sponsored "research program," or that this meat is not recorded in the Kyodo Senpaku Company record.  

Read the Press Release from Monday's court proceedings, and a recount of whistle blower testimony with nearly 30 years working for Kyodo Senpaku, whaling company.

This phase of the trial is over tomorrow, but the next phase is in May, so there is still time to sign the whale trial pledge!