Sea Shepherd activist boards Japan whaling ship to 'arrest' captain+

SYDNEY, Feb. 15 Kyodo -
In an escalation of the whaling wars in the Southern Ocean, an activist from
the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society boarded a Japanese security vessel on
Monday in what the activists said was an attempt to make a citizen's arrest of
the captain.

Japan's Fisheries Agency confirmed a Sea Shepherd protester boarded the Shonan
Maru No. 2, which provides security for the Japanese whaling fleet in the
Antarctic Sea. It said there were no injuries or damage as a result of the
incident at around 9 a.m. Monday Japan time.
The protester, New Zealander Pete Bethune, was the captain of the Ady Gil, the
Sea Shepherd's stealth vessel that sank after a collision with the Shonan Maru
No. 2 on Jan 6. Both parties blame each other for that incident, which left one
protestor injured.
Bethune was detained by the Shonan Maru's crew based on Japan's Mariners Act.
In Tokyo, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu
revealed that Bethune will be handed over to the Japan Cost Guard before an
investigation is conducted.
''Violent acts by the Sea Shepherd have been escalating, and we would like to
respond harshly to the latest incident by handing over (Bethune) to the Coast
Guard,'' Akamatsu said.
A statement on the Sea Shepherd website said Bethune was seeking to arrest the
Japanese captain of the vessel over the ''destruction of the Ady Gil and
attempted murder of the six Ady Gil crewmembers.''
Bethune boarded the Japanese vessel at approximately 6:30 a.m. Perth time, and
waited until sunrise to present himself and a bill for $3 million for the
sunken Ady Gil.
Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said Bethune traveled by jet ski from the
U.S.-based group's flagship vessel, the Steve Irwin, at 6 a.m.
Bethune has since presented a letter to the Shonan Maru No. 2 skipper
requesting that he return with him to the Steve Irwin to be transferred to New
Zealand's Maritime Safety Authority and police.
''If you refuse to be arrested, then I am requesting that you deliver me to
Wellington (New Zealand),'' Bethune said in his letter to the captain.
''Having sunk my vessel, and with our issuing of a mayday call, you have an
obligation under maritime law to provide me with safe passage back to land,''
he added.
''I will only leave the Shonan Maru when you transfer with me to the Steve
Irwin, or when we arrive on land, be it New Zealand or Australia.''
In the separate invoice for the destruction of the Ady Gil, Bethune said if
payment is not received in four weeks, the group will proceed with criminal
charges in Japan against the Japanese government's whaling fleet operator Kyodo
Senpaku Kaisha Ltd.
''We will be seeking punitive damages, in addition to the full replacement cost
of the Ady Gil...further to this we will be laying criminal charges against the
captain of the Shonan Maru (No. 2),'' Bethune wrote.
Watson told Kyodo News that the Shonan Maru No. 2 has acknowledged that Bethune
is on the vessel.
He added that he believed it would be ''unlikely'' the vessel would deliver
Bethune to a port in Australia or New Zealand.
==Kyodo
2010-02-15 23:26:24


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