Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Japanese Whaling Officials Admit Accepting Bribes

Japanese official bows to media
Officials of the Japanese Fishing Agency, which has oversight of Japanese commercial whalers, admitted publicly to accepting bribes of whale meat from private companies contracted to hunt whales. According to a Greenpeace Japan activist the agency only punished five officials, but the corruption is much larger and institutionalized. The gifts amounted to more than $3000.  Australian opposition spokesman Greg Hunt said the public confession confirms "what everybody has always known: scientific whaling always has been, and remains, a sham."