Antiwhaling activist sent to prosecutors on ship trespassing charge

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TOKYO, March 14 Kyodo -
The Japan Coast Guard sent an antiwhaling activist from New Zealand to
prosecutors Sunday on a charge of trespassing on a Japanese whaling vessel in
the Antarctic Ocean last month.
Pete Bethune, 44, former captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Ady
Gil, is charged with approaching the whaling fleet security vessel Shonan Maru
No. 2 aboard a jet ski and climbing aboard Feb. 15.
As the Tokyo District Court approved Bethune's detention for 10 days, the Tokyo
District Public Prosecutors Office moved him to the Tokyo Detention House.
After boarding the ship, Bethune asked the vessel's captain to pay compensation
for the sinking of the Ady Gil in a collision with the Japanese ship in the
Antarctic Ocean on Jan. 6. Both parties blame each other for the incident.
Bethune was detained aboard the Shonan Maru No. 2 and arrested by the Coast
Guard on Friday upon his arrival in Japan.
The Coast Guard says he has admitted to the allegations.
The leader of Australia's Green Party, Bob Brown, has backed an international
campaign to free Bethune.
As Bethune could be released soon on the minor charge, the Coast Guard intends
to seek his prosecution on more serious charges.
The Coast Guard has also begun investigating Bethune on suspicion of inflicting
injury on some crew members of the Shonan Maru No. 2 and interfering with the
Japanese ship's activities.
On Sunday, Coast Guard divers inspected damage to the hull of the Shonan Maru
No. 2 anchored in Yokohama port. The Coast Guard intends to prove that the Ady
Gil deliberately collided with the Japanese vessel.
As Bethune has also admitted that he threw bottles of butyric acid at the
Japanese ship on Feb. 11, the Coast Guard will analyze a video image taken by
the Japanese ship to confirm whether the bottles hit and injured some of the
crew.
==Kyodo
2010-03-14 21:31:16