Outside the Japanese embassy in Bern, Greenpeace activists display banners saying "Activism is not a crime" in English and Japanese. They also wear gags over their mouths which look like Japanese flags, which represents the meaning of the verdict: the truth can't be said without being criminalised. The event is held to protest the verdict against the activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki who exposed widespread corruption in the Japanese government’s Southern Ocean whaling programme.