It was only my second Greenpeace demonstration after the Big NO to Heathrow's third runway a few weeks back. But this time, we were calling for the release of Junichi and Toru, our Japanese campaigners who are being held in prison without charge for the past ten days and counting. They were arrested for exposing Japan's 'scientific' whaling mission to be a cover up for trade in whale meat. We gathered outside the Japanese embassy with 'Free Junichi and Toru' posters along with a bi-lingual banner with the same message in English and Japanese.

Update July 1 2008: 23 days in custody without charge for Greenpeace Japan activists

Greenpeace supporters gathered outside the Japanese Embassy in London this lunchtime. They held a peaceful protest to express solidarity with the two anti-whaling campaigners currently being held without trial in Japan for their role in exposing a large scale embezzlement scandal within the Japanese government-sponsored Southern Ocean whaling program.

Among the ranks was Greenpeace UK Director John Sauven, who handed in a letter to Ambassador Shin Ebihara asking him to make urgent representation to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for their immediate release, and to order a further investigation into the scandal exposed by Greenpeace.

IWC Chairman William Hogarth opens the Whale Kingdom for the Greenpeace Ocean Defenders

This is my first blog from the International Whaling Commission - as I write, we're into the third day of the five-day meeting, at the Sheraton Hotel, in Santiago, Chile. Without trying to justify why it's taken me so long to write something, I would like to explain - despite the fact that not much has happened here so far, it's still been a pretty busy few days.

Japanese police have arrested the two Greenpeace activists responsible for exposing a whale meat scandal involving the government-sponsored whaling programme. The two activists, Junichi Sato, 31, and Toru Suzuki, 41, are being investigated for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat which they presented as evidence.

Read more on our international site

In Chile, the world's scientists are already meeting in advance of the 60th International Whaling Commission (IWC), which will be held there in late June. At this time of year, the eyes of the world turn to the deadlocked struggle between pro-conservation and pro-whaling countries as they clash over the future of whaling at the IWC meetings. And recent events have not been going well for the whalers - in recent weeks we have seen just how desperate the pro-whaling nations are to play down not only the recent scandal of stolen whale meat in Japan, but also the saga of exporting whale meat from Iceland and Norway. Both stories highlight the extent to which the whalers are routinely flouting not only international opinion but also the global ban on commercial whaling and the trading of whale meat.

It’s been reported that, after a gap of 20 years, Iceland and Norway may have resumed the export of fin and minke whale meat to Japan. These countries continue to blatantly defy the International Whaling Commission’s ban on commercial whaling, and any trade in whale meat also undermines the ban on trading in whale products under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
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Greenpeace Japan delivering stolen whale meat to the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office

You did it! Following last week's revelation that crew members from the fleet responsible for Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling programme had for many years been stealing and illegally selling off prime whale bacon at the end of each annual hunt, more than 40,000 of you wrote to the Japanese government to demand an investigation. Today the Tokyo district Public Prosecutor has confirmed that there will be one.

Update 20th May: Tokyo Public Prosecutor agrees to launch an investigation

Crew members from the factory ship at the heart of Japan's so-called 'scientific' whaling programme have been stealing and illegally selling off the best cuts of whale meat. Our four-month investigation uncovered disturbing evidence of an embezzlement ring operating on board the Nisshin Maru, the floating factory ship which processes the whales caught by the whaling fleet's hunting vessels in the Southern Ocean.