Wednesday, October 28, 2009
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-091028-1.html
Sea Shepherd Demands Action by the Netherlands
In a news release today, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands
stated support for an amendment to Dutch law that would facilitate
vessel deregistration. Dutch Sea Shepherd Board member Laurens De Groot
responded, “We have a Dutch ship with a Dutch captain and Dutch
crewmembers, and we demand that the Dutch government take action to
protect our safety from the dangerous and illegal attacks by illegal
Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.”
De Groot is a former Rotterdam police officer who now serves onboard the Rotterdam registered marine conservation ship Steve Irwin for Sea Shepherd.
The Steve Irwin is scheduled to depart from Fremantle in Western Australia on December 7th, 2009 to once again interfere and harass illegal Japanese whaling operations in the waters off the coast of Western Australia.
The Japanese whalers are targeting endangered whales in an
established international whale sanctuary in violation of the global
moratorium on commercial whaling and in violation of the Antarctic
Treaty.
“I am appalled that the Prime Minster Jan Peter Balkenende has
agreed to change Dutch law to de-flag the one ship in the world that is
actually doing something to oppose illegal whaling,” said De Groot. “We
have not injured anyone, we have not been charged with any violations.
The Japanese whalers have tried to kill us yet the Prime Minister
refuses to hear our side of the story. He is more interested in
appeasing the criminal activities of the Japanese whalers than he is of
protecting the safety of Dutch citizens. We demand as Dutch citizens on
a Dutch flagged ship that our government warn the government of Japan
to cease and desist their violent attacks on the crew of the Sea
Shepherd ship Steve Irwin.”
Prime Minister Balkenende responded to concerns expressed by the
Prime Minister of Japan that, "as to whaling, I explained the Dutch
government is working on a change in the law that would make it
possible to take adequate measures against Dutch ships that commit
unlawful acts."
The truth is that the crew of the Steve Irwin
has not committed any unlawful acts. The Dutch government has not cited
the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society or the Captain and crew of the Steve Irwin with any violations. The governments of Japan and Australia have not charged Sea Shepherd with any violations.
“This is all political and it is not proper for the Prime Minister
of the Netherlands to be threatening to pass legislation to remove the
Dutch flag from a vessel that has not been charged with any wrong
doing,” said Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Founder and President.
“The Prime Minister should be more concerned about protecting the
safety of Dutch citizens than he seems to be about protecting the
interests of the Japanese whale poachers.”
The Sea Shepherd whale defense campaign this year is called Operation Waltzing Matilda
and will be the sixth expedition to intervene against illegal Japanese
whaling. During these encounters, the Japanese whalers have used
acoustical weapons, concussion grenades, and have even shot at Sea
Shepherd crew. One bullet struck Captain Paul Watson in the chest and
was stopped by his Kevlar vest.
“I think that the Prime Minister should be more concerned about
Japanese violence than about our non-violent measures to stop illegal
whaling,” said De Groot.
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Japan urges Netherlands to help against whaling activists
(AFP) – 7 hours ago
TOKYO — Japan on Monday urged the
Netherlands to take action against the Dutch-registered flagship of the
Sea Shepherd environmentalist group over its attacks on Japanese
whalers in the Antarctic.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
said he made the request when he met his Dutch counterpart Jan Peter
Balkenende, now on his four-day visit to the country.
"I asked as a flag state to handle the
obstruction of maritime safety," Hatoyama told reporters at a joint
news conference with Balkenende.
The Dutch premier replied: "As to
whaling, I explained the Dutch government is working on a change in the
law that would make it possible to take adequate measures against Dutch
ships that commit unlawful acts."
He added: "We disagree about whaling... but we do not disagree on the importance of safety at sea."
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
has repeatedly harassed Japanese whaling vessels as the group's ship
rammed into Japanese whalers in Antarctic waters and its crew threw
bottles filled with chemicals.
Japan hunts whales by using a loophole
in the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling that allows whales to be
killed for "lethal research," and Tokyo often accuses western critics
of insensitivity toward its culture.