Posted By: Mira Trapper
Sea Pirate guilty as charged. - 07/07/10 05:06 PM
SS activist convicted in Japan (AP)‏
Sent: July 7, 2010 1:21:23 PM
Associated Press
Japan court convicts NZ anti-whaling activist
By MARI YAMAGUCHI (AP) –
07/07/2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hbsFQi9NRCRAFsRQfj438hRfFiBgD9GQ1QBG4
TOKYO — A Tokyo court on Wednesday convicted a New Zealand activist of
assault and obstructing the Japanese whaling mission in the Antarctic
Ocean, sentencing him to a suspended prison term.
Peter Bethune was also found guilty of three other charges:
trespassing, vandalism and possession of a knife. He had pleaded
guilty to all but the assault charge when his trial started in late
May.
The court sentenced Bethune to two years in prison, with the sentence
suspended for five years — meaning he won't be jailed.
The assault conviction was for throwing bottles of rancid butter at
the whalers aboard their ship, including one that broke and gave three
Japanese crew members chemical burns.
Bethune, 45, climbed onto the Shonan Maru 2 in February from a Jet Ski
to confront its captain over the sinking of a protest vessel the
previous month. The former activist for Sea Shepherd, a U.S.-based
conservation group, was held on board the ship and arrested when the
vessel returned to Japan in March.
The group has been protesting Japan's research whaling for years,
often engaging in scuffles with Japanese whalers. Sea Shepherd claims
the whaling mission, an allowed exception to an international ban, is
a cover for commercial hunting.
Judge Takashi Tawada said that Sea Shepherd has been engaged in "acts
of sabotage" against the research whaling mission, and that the use of
such violence should not be tolerated.
Bethune "assaulted two crew members and interfered with their mission
and the impact was extremely serious," Tawada said. "His actions are
based on his selfish beliefs."
However, Tawada said there was room for leniency in the sentence given
that Bethune had acknowledged what had happened, indicated that he
wouldn't return to similar protest activities and had no criminal
record in Japan.
In his tearful closing statement June 10, Bethune apologized for the
trouble and said he never intended to hurt anyone.
During earlier trial sessions, Bethune said he just wanted to confront
the ship's captain and hand him a $3 million bill for the destruction
of the Ady Gil, a Sea Shepherd vessel that sank during a collision in
January.
Outside the court, about 30 right-wing protesters chanted and held up
placards, including one that said, "Give Sea Shepherd terrorist
capital punishment."
Shuhei Nishimura, one of the protesters, called the sentence "too lenient."
Sea Shepherd recently said it expelled Bethune because he violated its
policies against carrying weapons. The group said he had a bow and
arrows with him while he was aboard the Ady Gil, although he never
used them.
Japan, Norway and Iceland hunt whales under exceptions to a 1986
moratorium by the International Whaling Commission. Japan's whaling
program also involves large-scale expeditions to the Antarctic Ocean,
while other whaling countries mostly stay along their own coasts.
Separately, Japan has said the leader of Sea Shepherd, Canadian
citizen Paul Watson, 59, is now on an Interpol wanted list for
allegedly ordering Bethune's actions as part of the group's disruption
of Japanese whaling in the Antarctic.
Watson was placed on the Interpol list in late June at the request of
Japan, which accuses his group of risking whalers' lives during their
expedition.