Down in the Antarctic there is something of a standoff happening between the Japanese whalers and protesters. It seems two people from the Sea Shepard Conservation Group ship Steve Irwin boarded, on the high seas, the Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 to deliver a protest note. This after lobbing stink bombs at the ship and trying to foul the propellers with rope. The captain of the Yushin Maru No.2 is willing to return the two men if the the protesters “use your zodiac boat to rendezvous with Yushin Maru No.2 without carrying any dangerous items for attacks." There is also a demand that the protesters stop filming, recording, or in any way interfere with the ship’s activities.
The captain of the Steve Irwin is not willing to negotiate with the captain of the Yushin Maru No.2. In fact he thinks these demands from the Japanese are terrorism.
Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson, who last year threatened to ram the Japanese flagship and collided with a whale hunter, rejected the conditions.I think Paul Watson just has to look in the mirror to find a terrorist.
"Using hostages to make demands is the hallmark of terrorism and Sea Shepherd has no interest in negotiating with terrorist groups," Watson said in a statement. "The
hostages must be released unconditionally."
Update:
It seems the two activists have been released to the custody of an Australian ship after Australia brokered an agreement in which Japan keeps whaling and the activists keep following them. I just hope Paul Watson does not try to ram the Japanese vessel as some kind of payback.
No comments:
Post a Comment