Antiwhaling activist indicted on five criminal charges+

TOKYO, April 2 Kyodo -
Prosecutors on Friday indicted an antiwhaling activist from New Zealand on five
counts of criminal charges in connection with his intrusion onto a ship of
Japan's whaling fleet in the Antarctic Ocean.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office took the step against Peter
Bethune, 44, former captain of the antiwhaling vessel Ady Gil of the U.S.-based
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
The charges against the New Zealand national include trespassing, for boarding
the Shonan Maru No. 2, obstruction of business, for throwing a bottle of a
chemical substance onto the ship, and inflicting injuries on a crew member.
He has been detained since boarding the security escort ship of the Japanese
whaling fleet in the Antarctic Ocean on Feb. 15 and was arrested by the Japan
Coast Guard when the ship arrived at Tokyo port on March 12.
''These charges are bogus, and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society questions the
credibility of the entire Japanese judicial system for entertaining such
absurdities,'' the group said in a statement.
While saying the trespassing charge was expected, the group criticized the
additional charges as ''being made for purely political reasons.''
Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Japan will ''deal with
the issue strictly'' under the law, which is ''only a natural thing to do for a
state.''
==Kyodo
2010-04-02 18:57:41


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