tagged w/ anti-whaling
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Added On September 19, 2010
The debate over whaling and what is and isn't needed in the name of science.
CNN's Anna Coren reports.Added On September 19, 2010
The debate over whaling and what is and isn't... more
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Anti-whaling activist receives probation and suspended sentence
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 7, 2010 4:53 a.m. EDT
This undated handout obtained from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on February 16 shows Peter Bethune.
* Japan
(CNN) -- Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and five years' probation Wednesday by a Tokyo district court judge for his role in boarding a Japanese whaling ship.
Bethune was found guilty on five charges, ranging from assault against whalers to trespassing into a whaling vessel. Bethune had previously pleaded guilty to all charges but assault. He could have received up to 15 years behind bars on charges.
Bethune testified during his trial in May that he had no intention of hurting anyone when he protested Japan's whale hunt.
The New Zealand activist from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said that he believed the bottles of butyric acid he threw at the Shonan Maru 2 whaling ship were non-toxic and would not harm anyone.
Prosecutors said the butyric acid burned two crew members of the Japanese whaling fleet, but Sea Shepherd called it a harmless, albeit rancid, liquid. Butyric acid is found in rancid butter and vomit.
At the May hearing, he tearfully described the January collision between the Shonan Maru 2 and the Sea Shepherd's multi-million-dollar speedboat, the Ady Gil. The crash sunk the Ady Gil, which Bethune captained.
Weeks later, Bethune jumped aboard the Shonan Maru 2 and attempted to make a citizen's arrest of the captain. He was arrested and brought back to Japan to face criminal charges.
"I admit that I boarded the Shonan Maru, but I believe that I have good reason to do so," he said. "I admit that I fired the butyric acid."
Bethune's case is the first time a Sea Shepherd activist has been tried in a Japanese criminal court in the group's long-running battle with Japan's whalers in the icy waters of the Antarctic.
"It's encouraged us. It's certainly motivated us, and we're going back to the Southern Ocean with far more support than ever," said Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd founder. "I hope that we'll be much more effective because of it."
"Pete Bethune is a hero in New Zealand," Watson added. "He's a hero worldwide to people who want to see the end of whaling."
Japan annually hunts whales in the Antarctic, despite a worldwide moratorium on whaling, under the loophole that a country may legally do so if its purpose is scientific research.
Sea Shepherd has claimed the science argument is a sham, noting that the whale meat then gets sold in Japanese markets and served in restaurants.
"They're targeting endangered whales in an established international whale sanctuary in violation of the Antarctic treaty," Watson said. "They're criminals."
CNN's Junko Ogura contributed to this report.Anti-whaling activist receives probation and suspended sentence
By the CNN Wire Staff... more
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Japanese whalers blasted conservationists with a water cannon and hurled hunks of metal and golf balls at them in a clash Monday in icy Antarctic waters, an anti-whaling group said.
Two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society were lightly injured in the early morning fracas in heavy seas about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) southeast of the Australian state of Tasmania, said Paul Watson, the group's leader.
A spokesman for the whalers said he had no information on the claims.
The group — which routinely harasses the Japanese whaling fleet during its annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean — sent a helicopter and two inflatable boats toward one of the ships in the Japanese fleet.
The whalers began blasting conservationists on one raft with a water cannon, knocking one man off his feet and leaving him with cuts and bruises, Watson told The Associated Press by satellite phone.
Another protester was hit in the face with a large chunk of metal lobbed from a harpoon boat. He was wearing a shield on his helmet, but still suffered bruises, Watson said.
The Japanese also aimed a "military grade" noise weapon that can cause deafness and vomiting at the Sea Shepherd crew, Watson said. Some felt its vibrations but were too far away to be otherwise affected, he said.
Glenn Inwood, the New Zealand-based spokesman for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research — a Japanese government-affiliated organization that oversees the hunt — said he could not immediately confirm or deny the Sea Shepherd's claims.
"All legal means available will be used to protect the Japanese crew and the scientists," he said.
Japan, which has described the Sea Shepherd protesters as terrorists, plans to harvest up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales this season. Under International Whaling Commission rules, the mammals may be killed for research but not for commercial purposes. Opponents say the Japanese research expeditions are simply a cover for commercial whaling, which was banned in 1986.
Protesters aboard the ship, named after the late Australian conservationist and TV personality Steve Irwin, set off from Australia in early December for the remote and icy Antarctic Ocean, chasing the whaling fleet for about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) before stopping two weeks ago in Tasmania to refuel. The group found the whalers again on Sunday and resumed their pursuit.
In December, the protesters lobbed bottles of rancid butter at the Japanese.
"I will not allow them to kill a whale while we're here, and they know that," Watson said. "I'll literally rip their harpoon off their deck if I have to."Japanese whalers blasted conservationists with a water cannon and hurled hunks of... more
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Whaling in the Antarctic Ocean could be stopped if the Japanese government were to be held accountable for dumping waste and for undertaking hazardous refueling at sea, a panel said Tuesday.
The Canberra Panel, convened by the conservation group International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the new tactic could force Japan out of the whaling business because the activity violates the 46-member Antarctic Treaty System, which Japan belongs to.
"The Canberra Panel concluded that the government of Japan should be held accountable for the environmental impacts of whaling and the ancillary activities, such as refueling at sea and offal discharge, on the highly sensitive Antarctic marine environment," a report by the panel said.
An explosion and fire aboard a whaling factory ship in 2007 led to tons of fuel and chemicals being spilled into the ocean. The incident demonstrated the "substantial environmental risks" connected with Japanese whaling, it said.
The report was made public Tuesday but had been sent in the past week to the Australian and New Zealand governments, which are leading global opposition to Japanese whaling.
The report recommends that either Australia or New Zealand formally notify Japan of concerns about the failure to comply with a strict environmental protocol that has applied to Antarctica since 1991. The issue should then be raised at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in the U.S. in April.
"Over time, sustained pressure through the ATS is likely to increase further the difficulties faced by Japan in operating its whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean and ultimately contribute to the complete cessation of Japanese special-permit whaling in Antarctica," the report says.
The Japanese fleet plans to harvest up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales during the current season. Under International Whaling Commission rules, the mammals may be killed for research but not for commercial purposes.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Monday the government prefers to use diplomacy to persuade the Japanese to stop whaling.
"When we come to the conclusion that diplomatic efforts have failed, then we will give consideration to legal action," he said.
Don Rothwell, an Australian National University international law professor who chairs the six-member panel, said Tuesday the environmental approach would complement the government's strategy because it has "a diplomatic focus and also a legal perspective."Whaling in the Antarctic Ocean could be stopped if the Japanese government were to be... more
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Japan today said it would take legal action against three members of the Sea Shepherd conservation group, including one Briton, whom it accused of obstructing its whaling fleet during clashes in the Antarctic in February 2007.
In a further sign of Japan's hardline stance against anti-whaling activists, police will place the men, a Briton named by sources as Daniel Bebawi, 28, from Nottingham, and two Americans on an international wanted list as soon as arrest warrants are issued.
"It's only natural to seek an arrest warrant as we've determined that a crime was committed," Nobutaka Machimura, the government's chief spokesman, told reporters.
"Regardless of the differences of opinion, it is unacceptable that those involved (in whaling) get injured … or have their lives put in danger."
Sea Shepherd was unavailable for comment this afternoon.
Last month, police charged two Greenpeace activists with stealing a consignment of whale meat. The protesters intercepted the meat to support allegations that Japanese whalers were selling it on the black market.
Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, both members of the group's Japan branch, are accused of stealing a box containing 23kg of whale meat from a postal company warehouse in April.
Japan claims the three men involved in the Sea Shepherd case illegally obstructed the whaling fleet by jamming the propeller of the Kaiko Maru with a rope and throwing flares on to its deck.
Police will not pursue allegations that two whalers were injured by containers of butyric acid - rancid butter - hurled by Sea Shepherd activists.
The environmental group says the Kaiko Maru twice rammed one of its ships, leaving gashes in its hull, and denies whalers were hurt in the acid attacks.
Japan's recent hunt in the southern ocean was frustrated by protests from Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace. The country had planned to catch 850 minke whales but returned with 551.
Sea Shepherd has vowed to disrupt the next whaling expedition, due to start at the end of the year.
The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986 but allows Japan to conduct "lethal research" into the cetaceans' migratory and breeding habits.
The moratorium requires that meat from the hunts be sold on the open market, although domestic consumption is at an all-time low.Japan today said it would take legal action against three members of the Sea Shepherd... more
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