Key Tokyo Two defence witnesses to put whaling on trial

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.greenpeace.or.jp/press/releases_en/pr20100115_html

Aomori, Japan, January 15, 2010 - The prospect of putting the Japanese whaling programme on trial and defending the principle of peaceful civil disobedience moved a step closer today. Following repeated denials of key defence evidence, the legal team for the Tokyo Two were today surprised and pleased to win the inclusion of all key witnesses.

Included in the defence witness list are three crewmembers from the whaling fleet and one of the whistleblowers who asked Greenpeace to investigate corruption within the whaling programme after witnessing embezzlement first hand on the whaling ships.

The final witness will be the University of Gent's Prof. Dirk Voorhoof, an expert on freedom of expression and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

While the court did reject key expert evidence from Prof. Donald Rothwell, which discusses the legality of the Japanese whaling programme, its acceptance of these witnesses is an important win for the Tokyo Two defence team.

"The fact that Prof. Voorhoof, a foreign academic, has been accepted is very significant,"said lead defence counsel Yuichi Kaido. "One full day of evidence has been allocated for him to present the international human rights law argument, and how Sato and Suzuki are protected by the ICCPR."

"It has taken a long time, but the court appears to finally understand the significance of this case,"concluded Kaido.

FULL story at link.