This whole whaling hoo-ha is pretty damn nasty and I totally agree with the activists trying to get this awful activity stopped but I’m not so sure I agree with the “legal strategy” adopted by the Sea Shepherd group during the trial of Pete Bethune.
For those of you who have either been living under a rock or some other large, news-blocking object, Pete Bethune is the Kiwi bloke who boarded a Japanese ship in February, demanding compensation for the trimaran involved with a collision with Japanese whaling fleet security ship a month earlier.
He was subsequently arrested and has been in custody in Japan until his trial.
Apparently he hurled rancid butter and scaled a Japanese vessel. As you do.
Anyway, Mr Bethune was given a 2-year suspended sentence so I guess he’ll be behaving himself for the next couple of years. However, after saying during his trial that he was banned from its Antarctic anti-whaling missions, the Sea Shepherd group now says that was just a legal strategy and he’s welcome to join them on future trips.
Yes, I fully support the actions of a group trying to stop the slaughter of whales for reasons that most rational people know are nothing more than a crock of quasi-scientific bull (note to countries doing bad stuff: at least have the balls to admit what you’re doing and why, don’t try to baffle us with bullshit about scientific testing. We know you’re chowing down on whale burgers. And I hope you choke on ‘em). But I digress.
I support the group’s actions but surely they should stick with the moral high ground by not adopting a “legal strategy” to get their bloke a lighter sentence then doing a U-turn once it’s all over.