"Two Greenpeace activists were given suspended jail sentences in Japan Monday for stealing whale meat they said was going to be consumed illegally.

Japan, one of only three whale-hunting nations, has come under fire from environmentalists and foreign countries for its scientific whaling program, introduced in response to a commercial whaling ban under a 1986 moratorium.

A court in Japan's Aomori city handed down a one-year jail term, suspended for three years, to Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki. Prosecutors, who could not immediately be reached for comment, had demanded 18 months in prison."

Yoko Kubota reports for Reuters September 7, 2010. [2]