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Undercover Stint Reveals Japan is Bribing Nations to Receive Pro-Whaling Support
Image Source: Flickr. By: Michael Dawes.
Thanks to a recent stint pulled by some undercover reporters it would appear that the Japanese whalers are continuing their course aboard a sinking ship (so to speak).
According to the Sunday Times, Japan has bribed a number of small nations in attempt to earn their support at the upcoming IWC meeting. Undercover reporters pretended to be representatives of a Swiss billionaire conservationist and approached officials from pro-whaling nations, offering them a special package if they changed their votes.
During negotiations, many of the officials revealed they were supporting Japan and admitted the Japanese offered them a variety of “gifts”, including aid, cash, and even call girls! Nations that were part of the bribe include: Grenada, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nevis and St Kitts.
Japan denies these accusations, with the ministry of foreign affairs claiming:
“The government of Japan does not cover any cost of any other IWC member countries related to the IWC.”
However, check out what some of the officials had to say about the situation:
Guinea – A top fisheries official said Tokyo usually gives his minister a “minimum” of $1,000 in spending money per day during IWC and other fishery meetings.
Marshall Islands – A top fisheries official claims “We support Japan because of what they give us.”
Kiribati – A fisheries official stated that their vote was determined by the “benefit” aid it received and noted that Japan gave money to cover their spending and expenses at the IWC.
Tanzania – The IWC commissioner admitted that “good girls” were provided to ministers and senior fisheries officials during all-expenses paid trips to Japan.
If that isn’t some fishy work going on, then I don’t know what is. Though, it certainly has good timing, with 2 whaling activist trials in session, a new whale hunt in progress, and the IWC meeting very close at hand (June 21 – 25).
You can find out more information about the stint here.
By Heidi Marshall
Tags: aid, bribes, call girls, cash, gifts, IWC, japan, Japanese Whaling, meeting, pro-whaling, small nations, stint, Sunday Times, undercover reporters, votes
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Why would a nation that pimps its women for votes be expected to have any respect for whales? Rather than having a vote on whaling, why hasn’t the IWC has called in the police to investigation these serious criminal allegations – oops, almost forgot – you probably can’t charge Japanese diplomats with pimping and bribery because they’ve no doubt got diplomatic immunity. Perhaps they should rename them the Japanese Pimping Corps!!!