Posted on 07/07/2010 4:31:09 PM PDT by Dengar01
On January 6, 2010, Captain Hiroyuki Komura of the illegal Japanese whaling vessel the Shonan Maru #2 deliberately rammed and destroyed Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s vessel, the Ady Gil. Captain Komura almost killed six Sea Shepherd volunteer crewmembers and did not respond to the Ady Gil’s mayday distress signal. Japanese authorities refused to cooperate in investigations and declined requests by Australian and New Zealand maritime authorities to question Captain Komura.
Instead, Captain Peter Bethune, the man who Captain Komura almost killed and whose ship was destroyed, was taken back to Japan literally as a prisoner of war abducted from the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory. Captain Bethune was incarcerated for boarding the ship that had rammed and destroyed his ship, when he had every right to board that vessel to confront Captain Komura face-to-face for his crimes.
Captain Komura should have been the man on trial. He was not, because in the waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, might—rather than the law—makes right, and Captain Bethune was taken back to Japan to be made an example of and persecuted for defending the whales.
The verdict of the Japanese court was always to be “guilty.” Sea Shepherd was never under any illusion that Captain Bethune would be given a fair trial. In court, there was no discussion of the reason why Captain Bethune boarded the Shonan Maru #2, and Captain Komura was not called as a witness; in short, the court never allowed any evidence of the Ady Gil’s destruction to be heard.
Sea Shepherd spent in excess of half a million U.S. dollars on Captain Bethune’s defense, not because we believed he would be acquitted, but in an attempt to mitigate his sentence.
Captain Bethune was facing up to fifteen years in prison. He was sentenced to two years and he will be deported back to New Zealand on July 9th with his sentence suspended.
Captain Bethune’s mission was successful. His efforts helped save the lives of 528 whales. He was able to take one of the harpoon vessels off the hunt when it was forced to return him to Japan. Most importantly, he exposed the brutality and illegality of the Japanese whaling fleet to the world. When you’re willing to risk your life to save the whales, five months as a Japanese prisoner is a good trade-off for the lives saved.
Captain Bethune is a hero to the Save the Whales movement and he will be welcomed home to New Zealand as a national hero for having the courage to do what his government was fearful of doing—defending whales from the Japanese poachers in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Global support for Captain Bethune and negative publicity about Japan’s whaling program has led to this success. With Captain Bethune, the Japanese government was well aware that each day it held him would be a day that would generate protest against its abominable whale slaughter. This fact, coupled with protests over the showing of the Academy Award winning film “The Cove,” has helped to make the whale and dolphin slaughter the most embarrassing foreign affairs issue currently scandalizing the Japanese government.
The Japanese court acknowledged that Captain Bethune never intended to hurt anyone and was operating under his conviction to save whales from illegal whaling. The truth is that Japan wants Captain Bethune out of Japan and with the sentence suspended they can quickly send him home.
Sea Shepherd is proud of Captain Bethune’s achievements and satisfied with the results of this ridiculous trial that saw a man incarcerated for saving the lives of whales, yet ignored the crimes of a Japanese poacher who sank a ship and almost killed six conservationists.
Captain Bethune is free, and that is what matters. Sea Shepherd is free to return to the Southern Ocean again to defend the whales, and we intend to be even more effective next season than during our last highly effective season.
Captain Bethune is an inspiration in courage and dedication, and his efforts, his sacrifice, and his resolve will not be forgotten.
LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER!!!
Where are those Japanese mini-subs when you really need them?
Pan, can you hit up the people who were recently added to the Whale Wars Ping List???
And if anyone has video or pictures of the batmobile boat getting smashed in half, please post them, I need some comic relief tonight, it has been a very stressful week.
And South Park pictures :D
These libs are cowards. Like I said on another thread, Paul Watson is going to get someone killed, and I think that is exactly what he wants.
Isn’t there a law of the seas regarding the destruction of those ships that fly the “Jolly Roger/Skull and Crossbones”?
Captains log: "Lesson learned, let the fools drown and carry on.........
Translation:
"When someone else fooishly puts their ass at risk and gets thrown in a Japanese slammer for no telling how long, that's a good deal so long as it generates some publicity and income for me."
Yep! I've managed to watch a couple episodes and it is evident to me that the fools on board know nothing about anything on that that ship and are nothing but volunteers out for an adventure that one hopes will get them......................
Never watched nor would I watch the show but I have had the commercials for the show pushed in my face every so often. This is nothing but envio terroists that won the Ballon Boy award!
Could I please be added to the Whale Wars list? Thanks.
I lived in Japan for a total of 13 years (US State Department). My wife is Japanese.
I’m not a starry-eyed Japan worshipper, but I think these Greenpeace idiots are beyond the pale. That being said, I wish Japan would stop hunting whales. It’s just not worth it. Very few Japanese eat whale.
What keeps Japan hunting whales is fear that if the “international community” can dictate an end to whaling, then what’s next — an end to tuna fishing, or other fish types that many Japanese do eat?
He said something about "using the media to your advantage", it's straight out of the Marxist playbook.
I still don't know how he keeps finding such morons to go on their little trips to Antarctica. I have no clue in the world how no one has been killed yet.
And for those of you who haven't been following the Whale Wars Threads, the Sea Shepherds newest cause is saving Tuna Fish off Libyan waters, they were almost sunk, unfortunately they weren't...
If you are interested in joining the Whale Wars Ping list please let me or Pan_Yan know. We have a thread every Friday night and amuse ourselves by watching dumb liberals get hosed down by the Japanese.
We also expose Paul Watson for the media whore psycho liar that he is.
And anyone who says they'd put their life on the line for a whale is mentally ill and should be committed but thanks to liberalism we can't do that.
First of all I'll make sure you are added to the list, secondly the Sea Shepherds are actually going on missions to save Tuna Fish in the Mediterranean. God only knows what's next. Bass in Lake Michigan maybe? Maybe Salmon in Alaska or Lobsters of the coast of Maine.
These people push their vegan BS on everyone else. Those of us who consume meat don't torture animals for Christ sakes. These are Godless fools who are probably 100% pro abortion but completely against killing animals for consumption.
That Captain needs a medal and a parade, and a unit citation for the crew for only taking the nose off the Ady Gil instead of cutting it smooth in half at the crew compartment.
From what I can tell from the Youtube vids the Ady Gil seemed to stall just as they were cutting across the Japs' bow. That raceboat was obviously never made or intended to operate in Antarctic waters; it was made to get on smooth water and go fast. Watching it yaw back and forth in the choppy seas they were in makes me think that finally something gave, or water got into an engine or something and of course Watson will never admit it because he's criminally insane.
I enjoy watching this show and rooting for the Japanese. It’s not that I want dead whales, I just hope that the activist continue to get their boats sunk, and crew members arrested.
Click on the link then click on "campaigns" and you will find the answers to all your questions.....
Welcome aboard, Poundstone.
Please let me know if you want on or off the Whale Wars ping list.
I'm an animal lover, it is sad to watch the whales die. But it sure is awesome to see liberals make fools of themselves on national television.
Pan_Yan refers to Whale Wars as "Hippies Failing Badly", nothing could be more accurate than that. They literally fail everytime they do anything. It is a quite humorous show, it is only sad that whales have to die during the show I don't enjoy seeing that, but I love seeing the liberals get nailed with power water hoses.
I want the Japanese to put the National Skeet Shooting Team on one of their ships. When the hippies start throwing bottles of acid at them just blast them out of the sky.
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