Japan 'agrees to release anti-whaling hostages'
* Japan has agreed to release anti-whaling hostages
* Earlier claim of tying to mast denied
* Multimedia special: Whale facts and figures
JAPAN has agreed to release two anti-whaling activists held on board a whaling ship in Antarctic waters, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.
Mr Smith said Japan had agreed to release Benjamin Potts, 28, of Sydney, and Giles Lane, 35, from Britain, after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and embassy officials in Tokyo spoke to the Japanese Government.
"Late last night I was advised the Japanese had agreed to this and they had instructed the relevant whaling ship to return the men to the Steve Irwin," Mer Smith said on ABC radio.
"The most important thing here is the safety and welfare of the two men concerned and we do as the Australian Government want their immediate release.
"My most recent advice, which is in the last hour, is that that transfer has not yet occurred and I'm calling upon both parties, both the Steve Irwin and Sea Shepherd and the Japanese whaling vessel, to effect immediately their safe return of the two men concerned."
The activists boarded the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No 2 about 4pm (AEDT) yesterday to deliver a written plea to stop killing whales.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society international director Jonny Vasic said the two men were tied to a radar mast in freezing conditions for up to three hours after their capture, a claim denied by Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which is running the whale hunt.
The Japanese catcher ship was one of a fleet of five the Steve Irwin had tracked since January 1 but located in the Southern Ocean yesterday, Mr Vasic said.
Held hostage
“When they got on board and delivered the letter they were not allowed to leave,” Mr Vasic said.
“The letter basically stated that they (the Japanese crew) were breaking the international conservation law against whaling in the Antarctic sanctuary.”
Mr Vasic said the men were tied to a radar mast for up to three hours in icy conditions before they were taken below.
“We have a photo that shows that when they were held they were basically strapped by the arms with zip ties and tied with rope around their chests, and then they were held there for several hours in the cold, and then about two-and-a-half to three hours after that they were taken below,” he said.
Mr Lane is an engineer aboard the Steve Irwin and Mr Potts is a cook.
Mr Vasic said Sea Shepherd had contacted the British High Commission in Australia and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
ICR director-general Minoru Morimoto said the men had not been tied up and were taken to a secure room.
“Any accusations that we have tied them up or assaulted them are completely untrue,” Mr Morimoto said.
“It is illegal to board another country's vessels on the high seas. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future.
“The two boarded the Yushin Maru No 2 after they made attempts to entangle the screw (propeller) of the vessel using ropes and throwing bottles of acid onto the decks.”
The incident occurred just inside the Australian Antarctic Sanctuary near the intersection of the coordinates 60 degrees south and 77 degrees east, a week's sail southwest of the Australian coast, Mr Vasic said.
The encounter came after the Australian Federal Court today outlawed whaling in Australian Antarctic waters in a ruling the government said it would not try to enforce.
* Earlier claim of tying to mast denied
* Multimedia special: Whale facts and figures
JAPAN has agreed to release two anti-whaling activists held on board a whaling ship in Antarctic waters, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.
Mr Smith said Japan had agreed to release Benjamin Potts, 28, of Sydney, and Giles Lane, 35, from Britain, after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and embassy officials in Tokyo spoke to the Japanese Government.
"Late last night I was advised the Japanese had agreed to this and they had instructed the relevant whaling ship to return the men to the Steve Irwin," Mer Smith said on ABC radio.
"The most important thing here is the safety and welfare of the two men concerned and we do as the Australian Government want their immediate release.
"My most recent advice, which is in the last hour, is that that transfer has not yet occurred and I'm calling upon both parties, both the Steve Irwin and Sea Shepherd and the Japanese whaling vessel, to effect immediately their safe return of the two men concerned."
The activists boarded the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No 2 about 4pm (AEDT) yesterday to deliver a written plea to stop killing whales.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society international director Jonny Vasic said the two men were tied to a radar mast in freezing conditions for up to three hours after their capture, a claim denied by Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which is running the whale hunt.
The Japanese catcher ship was one of a fleet of five the Steve Irwin had tracked since January 1 but located in the Southern Ocean yesterday, Mr Vasic said.
Held hostage
“When they got on board and delivered the letter they were not allowed to leave,” Mr Vasic said.
“The letter basically stated that they (the Japanese crew) were breaking the international conservation law against whaling in the Antarctic sanctuary.”
Mr Vasic said the men were tied to a radar mast for up to three hours in icy conditions before they were taken below.
“We have a photo that shows that when they were held they were basically strapped by the arms with zip ties and tied with rope around their chests, and then they were held there for several hours in the cold, and then about two-and-a-half to three hours after that they were taken below,” he said.
Mr Lane is an engineer aboard the Steve Irwin and Mr Potts is a cook.
Mr Vasic said Sea Shepherd had contacted the British High Commission in Australia and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
ICR director-general Minoru Morimoto said the men had not been tied up and were taken to a secure room.
“Any accusations that we have tied them up or assaulted them are completely untrue,” Mr Morimoto said.
“It is illegal to board another country's vessels on the high seas. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future.
“The two boarded the Yushin Maru No 2 after they made attempts to entangle the screw (propeller) of the vessel using ropes and throwing bottles of acid onto the decks.”
The incident occurred just inside the Australian Antarctic Sanctuary near the intersection of the coordinates 60 degrees south and 77 degrees east, a week's sail southwest of the Australian coast, Mr Vasic said.
The encounter came after the Australian Federal Court today outlawed whaling in Australian Antarctic waters in a ruling the government said it would not try to enforce.
posted by Smurfie at 9:22 AM
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Read the anti-whaling activists' letter
January 16, 2008 05:57am
Article from: NEWS.com.au
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TWO anti-whaling activists - one Australian and one British - are being held on a Japanese whaling ship after boarding it to deliver a letter of protest. Here is the text of that letter:
To: The Captain of any Japanese ship
Involved with poaching operations in The Australian Antarctic Territorial Economic Exclusion Zone.
Sir,
My name is Giles David Lane
I am a British citizen and an unpaid volunteer on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Steve Irwin
I have come onboard your ship because you have refused to acknowledge communication from our ship pertaining to your illegal activities in the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territorial Economic Exclusion Zone.
I am not boarding your ship with the intent to commit a crime, to rob you or to inflict injury upon your crew and yourself or damage to your ship. My reason for boarding is to deliver the message that you are in violation of international conservation law and in violation of the laws of Australia. It is my intent to deliver this message and then to request that you allow me to disembark from your vessel without harm or seizure.
I am empowered to act to uphold these laws in accordance with the United Nations World Charter for Nature and the laws of Australia.
I am boarding you with the request that you please refrain from any further criminal activity in these waters and cease and desist with the continued killing of endangered whales in this designated Whale Sanctuary in violation of the IWC global moratorium on commercial whaling and that you cease and desist in continued violations of Australian law by killing whales within the territorial waters of Australia without permit or permission from the government of Australia.
I am boarding you on the orders of Captain Paul Watson who requests that you treat me with respect and in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
Whaling protesters picked up by Customs
January 18, 2008 08:13am
* Activitists freed after being held for two days
* Japanese whaling fleet will resume operations
* Multimedia special: Whale facts and figures
TWO anti-whaling activists held on a Japanese whaling ship have been handed over to an Australian fisheries patrol ship near Antarctica.
"The two men were transferred in the early hours of this morning and are safe and well onboard the Oceanic Viking," a Home Affairs spokeswoman said.
Australian Benjamin Potts and Briton Giles Lane were picked up from Japanese whale hunter Yushin Maru No.2 in the Southern Ocean early today and would be taken back to their protest ship the Steve Irwin later in the morning, their group said.
The families of both men had been informed, the ministry spokeswoman said.
Whaling was halted near Antarctica after the activists were detained two days ago when they scrambled aboard a Japanese whaling boat to deliver a protest letter from the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Each side accused the other of behaving like terrorists and Australia's Government offered on Wednesday to act as a neutral intermediary and pick the two men up in a fisheries patrol ship sent to the area to monitor the Japanese whaling fleet.
The Australian spokeswoman urged restraint on all sides and said Sea Shepherd and had been given conditions by the Government before Canberra agreed to pick up the men.
"This still requires the co-operation of Sea Shepherd," she said.
Kim McCoy, Sea Shepherd's executive director, said on local radio that protests against the Japanese whaling fleet would resume when the men were back on the Steve Irwin.
"The moment we get them back on board we plan to resume what we came here to do, which is enforcing international conservation law," she said.
Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson said he expected Mr Potts and Mr Lane to be transferred to his vessel within hours.
"We're very grateful to the Australian Government for assisting on that," he said on Channel 7.
"They should be back on board within a few hours and then we will continue our campaign to harass the Japanese whalers. They haven't killed any whales for the last week."
Mr Watson said no deal had been done with the Japanese whalers. "We made no deal at all," he said.
Japanese whaling spokesman Glenn Inwood said the fleet, would also resume operations.
"It was certainly quite handy for the Japanese Government that the (Oceanic Viking) was there because it helped them resolve the situation with the two illegal intruders," said Mr Inwood, from the Institute of Cetacean Research.
"It became very clear yesterday after 24 hours of receiving no communication from the Sea Shepherd organisation that they had no intention of removing the men from the Japanese vessel and therefore the Australian Government was asked to intervene and take them aboard their customs vessel," he said.
The Oceanic Viking is seeking to gather photo and video evidence for an international legal challenge by Australia against whaling that Tokyo says is scientific and thus legal.
Japan plans to hunt almost 1000 minke and fin whales for research over the Antarctic summer, but has abandoned the cull of 50 humpback whales after international condemnation and a formal diplomatic protest by 31 nations.
Despite a moratorium on whaling, Japan is allowed an annual "scientific" hunt, arguing whaling is a cherished cultural tradition and the hunt is necessary to study whales.
Its fleet has killed 7000 Antarctic minkes over the past 20 years.
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