Whaling protestor may face Japan trial

Japan may press charges against a New Zealand anti-whaling activist who boarded one of its ships in Antarctic waters, officials said.

Activist Peter Bethune climbed aboard the Japanese fleet's security ship, the Shonan Maru 2, from a jet ski under cover of darkness early Monday with stated plans to make a citizens' arrest of its captain Hiroyuki Komiya.

Bethune was captain of powerboat the Ady Gil, which was smashed in a collision with the whaling vessel on January 6, and wanted to detain captain Komiya over the "attempted murder" of its six crew in the crash.

Instead, Japan may now arrest and charge Bethune, who remains in Japanese custody, in the latest chapter of the increasingly heated confrontations between the whalers and the militant Sea Shepherd activists who have harassed them for weeks in international waters.

Both sides have blasted each other with icy jets from high-pressure water cannon, while activists have also hurled rancid butter stink bombs at the whalers.

Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu vowed to get tough with Bethune.

"As it is outrageously illegal behaviour, we want to deal with it strictly," Akamatsu told reporters Tuesday, the Jiji Press news agency reported.

Japan's fisheries agency, which runs the annual whaling expeditions, "wants to hand him over to the Japan Coast Guard," an agency official said, adding that a formal government decision had not yet been made.

"It has not been decided that we will seek criminal charges, but we are considering how to handle this problem, including this possibility," said the official, who declined to be named.

Japan's top government spokesman Hirofumi Hirano told reporters: "We are in the final phase of coordination on how to deal with the issue under Japanese law, including whether we'll bring him to Japan or not."

"We are studying the issue from the viewpoint that he is suspected of trespassing onto a Japanese ship."

If Japan decides to arrest Bethune, the Coast Guard would need to pick him up by sending a ship or aircraft to Antarctic waters or arrest him upon the Shonan Maru 2's return to Japan, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said.

The Sea Shepherds' Captain Paul Watson said: "Captain Bethune was entirely in his rights to confront the man who almost killed him and destroyed his ship.Japan may press charges against anti-whaling activist

tokyo, Feb 16, 2010 (AFP) -

Japan may press charges against a New Zealand anti-whaling activist who boarded one of its ships in Antarctic waters, officials said Tuesday.

Activist Peter Bethune climbed aboard the Japanese fleet's security ship, the Shonan Maru 2, from a jet ski under cover of darkness early Monday with stated plans to make a citizens' arrest of its captain Hiroyuki Komiya.

Bethune was captain of powerboat the Ady Gil, which was smashed in a collision with the whaling vessel on January 6, and wanted to detain captain Komiya over the "attempted murder" of its six crew in the crash.

Instead, Japan may now arrest and charge Bethune, who remains in Japanese custody, in the latest chapter of the increasingly heated confrontations between the whalers and the militant Sea Shepherd activists who have harassed them for weeks in international waters.

Both sides have blasted each other with icy jets from high-pressure water cannon, while activists have also hurled rancid butter stink bombs at the whalers.

Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu vowed to get tough with Bethune.

"As it is outrageously illegal behaviour, we want to deal with it strictly," Akamatsu told reporters Tuesday, the Jiji Press news agency reported.

Japan's fisheries agency, which runs the annual whaling expeditions, "wants to hand him over to the Japan Coast Guard," an agency official said, adding that a formal government decision had not yet been made.

"It has not been decided that we will seek criminal charges, but we are considering how to handle this problem, including this possibility," said the official, who declined to be named.

Japan's top government spokesman Hirofumi Hirano told reporters: "We are in the final phase of coordination on how to deal with the issue under Japanese law, including whether we'll bring him to Japan or not."

"We are studying the issue from the viewpoint that he is suspected of trespassing onto a Japanese ship."

If Japan decides to arrest Bethune, the Coast Guard would need to pick him up by sending a ship or aircraft to Antarctic waters or arrest him upon the Shonan Maru 2's return to Japan, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said.

The Sea Shepherds' Captain Paul Watson said: "Captain Bethune was entirely in his rights to confront the man who almost killed him and destroyed his ship.

"And now this same Japanese captain who destroyed a ship almost killing its crew is intent on bringing Captain Bethune back to Japan as his captive. The question must be asked -- who are the pirates here?"

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society added that it sees this as an opportunity to rally support for Bethune in New Zealand and Australia.

"These Japanese poachers plunder the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with impunity and now they are hauling a courageous Kiwi hero to the Land of the Rising Sun to crucify him for defending the whales," it said in a statement.

Commercial whaling has been banned worldwide since 1986, but Japan justifies its annual hunts as "lethal scientific research", while not hiding the fact that the meat is later sold in shops and restaurants.

"And now this same Japanese captain who destroyed a ship almost killing its crew is intent on bringing Captain Bethune back to Japan as his captive. The question must be asked -- who are the pirates here?"

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society added that it sees this as an opportunity to rally support for Bethune in New Zealand and Australia.

"These Japanese poachers plunder the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with impunity and now they are hauling a courageous Kiwi hero to the Land of the Rising Sun to crucify him for defending the whales," it said in a statement.

Commercial whaling has been banned worldwide since 1986, but Japan justifies its annual hunts as "lethal scientific research", while not hiding the fact that the meat is later sold in shops and restaurants.