23 June 2010, Auckland, NZ.

SAVE OUR WHALES

Today I received an email from Nick Young about the need to support Greenpeace in their bid to stop, or at least exercise some control, on the whaling industry in Japan.

Karli Thomas is  representing  Greenpeace  right at this moment, at the annual International  Whaling  Commission being held at Agadir, in Morocco.

Karli has met her friend Junichi Sato, who is one of the two Japanese  Greenpeace activists who ‘whistleblew’ on the extent  and corruption of the Japanese whaling programme in 2008.  Junichi Sato and  Toru Suzuki are now facing an 18 month long jail sentence for their efforts in exposing the corruption of the Japanese whaling industry.

This is a sorry state of affairs: as Nick said in an earlier email, it is the people who kill whales and profit from whaling who should be stopped, not the protesters  risking everything to try and protect the  whales. The criminals are not this brave pair who have brought the focus again onto the Japanese commercial whaling programme, but the whalers themselves, and all those in the business of  killing of our precious whales.

Corruption exists even at the level of  the International Whaling Commission itself:  it has been revealed by the media that  Japanese interests have bought votes at this conference to help swing decisions to help their purposes.  Apparently, the commissioner from Antigua, who is chairing this year’s meeting, has had his airfare and accommodation paid for by Japanese whaling interests.

Karli urges that all those who wish to stop Japanese commercial whaling,  should send an email to the Japanese Foreign Minister.

You can contact info@greenpeace.org.nz for more information on this.

to be continued