Anti-whaling activist pleads guilty to 4 charges in Japan

[maddezmom]

Source: SMU

An anti-whaling activist from New Zealand who boarded a Japanese harpoon ship in Antarctic waters pleaded guilty on Thursday in a Tokyo court to four charges but denied assault using rancid butter.

Peter Bethune, 45, of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was detained by whalers in February after he climbed aboard the Shonan Maru II, the security ship of the Japanese whaling fleet, during its annual cull of the sea mammals.

The case throws a spotlight on Japanese whaling, which the island-nation defends as part of its culture and carries out under a loophole to an international moratorium that allows lethal "scientific research".


Read more: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/antiwhaling-activist-pleads-guilty-to-4-charges-in-japan-20100527-wfxs.html

[roody]

1. "its annual cull"

Its annual massacre! Good work, Sea Shepherd.

[xchrom]

2. My hat is off to Mr Bethune.

A modern day hero.

[Tejas]

3. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. nt

[Kolesar]

4. Sitting in front of a computer is much more courageous

:sarcasm:

[Tejas]

5. Sure beats boarding foreign ships on the high seas.

:rofl:

[Cetacea]

10. Wow. Another pro-whaler.

So 1800s.

[Tejas]

17. Go join him.

You're more than welcome to trespass a foreign ship on the high seas. If you're not shot on sight or thrown overboard or don't spend 10 years eating rice in prison, then feel free to post your adventure.

Really, go do it, show us how above-the-law you are.

[Bert]

18. Why so up in arms

Didnt you get your daily whale meat burger? And Japan is the one breaking laws you sick bastard.

[Tejas]

19. Why the childish name-calling?

If you're so passionate about breaking Maritime Law, send the fool some money, start with $100.

[LanternWaste]

11. Observing an individual maintaining...

Observing an individual maintaining the courage of their conviction in the face of overwhelming financial interests and stoically accepting the consequences of their actions seems to compel many small people to write small things.

[Tejas]

16. Especially when that person does it with other saps money. nt

[Bonobo]

6. More here:

TOKYO (Kyodo)
Prosecutors argued in their opening remarks that Bethune trespassed aboard the vessel to have a cameraman film him for a documentary. They played to the court a video recorded by the Japanese fleet that shows the defendant throwing a glass bottle and roaring with delight.

Noting that there is powerful opposition within the international community to the Japanese whaling program, the defense countered in its remarks that Bethune did not intend to harm the crew member and that he was not aware of the dangers posed by the liquid contained in the glass bottle.

He was indicted last month for firing a glass bottle containing butyric acid onto the Shonan Maru No. 2 on Feb. 11, causing injuries to a 24-year-old male crew when the bottle shattered and some of the contents splashed him in the face.

The crew member suffered burns that required a week of medical treatment, according to the indictment.

http://adoreanimals.com/home/captain-paul-watson-saving-our-seas/
‘People call us violent; we’re not violent, we’re completely non-violent. We’ve got an unblemished history of non-violence. We’ve never caused a single injury to a single person anywhere in 30 years of operations. But there’s a perception of violence because we attack property even though that property is used for illegal purposes, because we live in a culture where property takes precedence over life.’

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081221083803AA3EutV
Do you think the captain on Whale Wars really got shot?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Absolutely not! There is a very simple experiment you can do to prove him wrong. If you watched the program you’ll notice he fits the unjacketed bullet into a huge dent in the badge and says, “perfect fit” keep this in mind. For the experiment you’ll need the following articles.

1)a large hammer (22oz.+)
2)a ¾ “ long 3/8” dia. bolt
3)metal epoxy
4)Same metal badge Watson had
5)A strong friend

Now epoxy the bolt to the end of the hammer put on a nice fluffy sweater like Watson had clip the badge to your chest. Let a strong friend hit the badge hard enough to bend the badge as deep as shown on the program in question. Now inspect the injuy to your chest how does your injury compare to Watson’s? (Now would be a good time to call 911). While you’re waiting for the ambulance I have a few questions. Did you notice being hit? Did you say, “I think I’ve been hit” or did you say*!*#(@!?!*&%!!!! And fall down in pain? I’m sorry but bullet resistant appeal doesn’t stop the energy transfer that’s why manufactures specifically tell you not to wear anything hard under your vest because it will increase the energy transfer, They also claim there were trauma plates in his vest if that were the case the bullet wouldn’t look like a bullet it would have deformed or shattered and the badge wouldn’t have a perfect bullet shaped dent in it either. Not to mention the bullet missed the upper right corner of the trauma plate pocket. Another problem with their bullet was that it wasn’t jacketed and snipers don’t use soft lead rounds they deform too easily to achieve the desired accuracy. If the bullet shed its copper jacket in the vest it wouldn’t look like a bullet any more.

After watching them board a ship without permission and then claim hostage status I see this as just another deceptive tactic used by Watson and his crew. What I find most suspicious is there are no close up photos of the alleged bullet, trauma plate or badge nor were they submitted to independent forensic testing. While forensic tests wouldn’t prove the Japanese did it. It would prove if it was or wasn’t a propaganda based hoax.

[hughee99]

13. "We’ve never caused a single injury to a single person anywhere in 30 years of operations."

versus

"He was indicted last month for firing a glass bottle containing butyric acid onto the Shonan Maru No. 2 on Feb. 11, causing injuries to a 24-year-old male crew when the bottle shattered and some of the contents splashed him in the face.

The crew member suffered burns that required a week of medical treatment, according to the indictment."

[petronius]

20. "throwing a glass bottle and roaring with delight"

You know who else does that? Pirates, that's who. QED. :rofl:

(Caveats: I know that things I've seen at Disneyland are not definitive of real pirates. I know that Mr. Bethune has not been accused of piracy, and in fact is not one. I know that the quoted text is from a Japanese source that may have an agenda. In short, this post is a judgment-free joke about a phrase which struck me as funny.)

[nashville_brook]

7. rock and roll Sea Shepherds!

[marshall]

8. Rancid butter?

What is that, the green version of napalm?

[petronius]

15. Butyric acid is the stenchy component of rotten butter. The SS refers to

it as "butter" and the whalers always call it "acid". I'm not sure if the SS actually uses butter or if the bottles of butyric acid come from another source (it sounds a bit odd that a ship full of vegans would use butter, but perhaps it's OK in a good cause)...

[ShortnFiery]

9. We can't prosecute humanity's bane - war criminals - but we're "all over" those DANGEROUS

anti-whaling activists. You no worry fellow World Citizen, those scary anti-whaling activists will be locked up for the duration of the God Almighty War on Terrorism.

Feel safer now? :crazy:

[hughee99]

14. We? This is a Japanese court

prosecuting a guy who boarded a Japanese ship and was throwing bottle(s) of acid. Are they supposed to let this guy slide so they can clear the docket to try * in a Japanese court for war crimes?

[Dappleganger]

12. While I don't agree with their methods, I do agree with their passion to protect whales.

It would be better IMO to focus on documenting everything these ships do via film (as they're showing on tv to the world).