The Aomori District Court sentenced two Greenpeace Japan activists Monday to suspended one-year prison terms for trespassing and stealing whale meat from a transport company branch in Aomori Prefecture in April 2008.
"Even if the defendants' act is a valid one for the purpose of public benefit, the criminal act in question is beyond the level acceptable as a research activity," the court ruled.
"It is obvious the defendants had the intention of illegally obtaining the whale meat because they handled the meat in a way only the owners of the meat can do, including opening the box they took, confirming the content was whale meat and taking it as a sample," the court said.