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BloombergJapan Police Arrest Greenpeace Activists Over Stolen Whale Meat
By Stuart Biggs and Tak Kumakura
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese police arrested two Greenpeace Japan activists today for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat the environmental group said it took to provide evidence of corruption in Japan's whaling program.
Junichi Sato, 31, and Toru Suzuki, 41, were arrested for allegedly trespassing and stealing whale meat from Seino Transportation Co. in Aomori prefecture, northern Japan, police spokesman Shuetsu Toda told Bloomberg News by telephone.
Greenpeace showed reporters last month a box containing 23.5 kilograms (52 pounds) of whale meat it said was smuggled ashore by a crew member on Japan's whaling fleet for sale on the black market. Greenpeace gave the box to prosecutors along with documents from its investigation into stolen whale meat worth as much as 15 million yen ($139,000), the group said.
``What is surprising is that these activists, who are innocent of any crime, would be arrested for returning whale meat that was stolen from Japanese taxpayers by crew of the whaling fleet,'' Greenpeace Executive Director Jun Hoshikawa said in a statement. ``It would appear to us that this is an intimidation tactic by the government agencies responsible for a scandal.''
The Japanese government spends as much as $60 million a year on its whaling program, including on expeditions to Antarctica backed by a license for scientific research it issues. The government relies on sales of whale meat to fund 85 percent of its costs.
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