TOKYO, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Two Greenpeace members in Japan were given suspended sentences for the theft of whale meat belonging to a Japanese whaling ship crew member, officials said.
The Aomori District Court in northeastern Japan handed down the sentence against Junichi Sato, a 33-year-old anti-whaling campaign coordinator, and Toru Suzuki, 43, for the 2008 theft of a package of whale meat the crew member was trying to send home, Kyodo News reported.
The sentence handed down Monday was one year in jail, suspended for three years.
The defense had argued the two seized the package temporarily as evidence the crew was illegally obtaining the meat, and had no intention of theft.
The duo was arrested in June 2008 and charged with entering a cargo depot and stealing the 50-pound package of whale meat valued at $600.
Japan continues to hunt for whales, though commercial whaling is banned under an international pact, claiming it does so as scientific research on their habitats.
But whale meat from the hunt is later sold in markets for consumption, Kyodo News said.
