14 DAY TRIAL // It has only been a few days since Captain Paul Watson, the leader of the Sea Shepherd organization, returned to the United States. Still, it was on Wednesday when the captain was required to make an appearance in court.
Seattle Times details that, some time ago, the captain was ordered by a court to stay away from Japanese whalers, and no longer try to keep them from hunting marine mammals.
Yesterday's meeting was supposed to determine whether or not Paul Watson violated this order, and should therefore be held in contempt. If found guilty, the Sea Shepherd leader risks being made to pay fines amounting to $2 million (€1.48 million).
The Japanese whaling consortium that started this entire conundrum by accusing the captain and the organization of piracy is ready and willing to “spare” the environmentalist of having to pay said fines, provided that the Sea Shepherd organization agrees not to sabotage future Japanese whaling campaigns, the same source details.
It goes without saying that the chances that the conservationists will give into Japan's demands are pretty much slim to none.
While in court, the captain seized the opportunity to defend himself against the piracy charges filed against him and his organization by Japan’s Institute for Cetacean Research.
“Protesting against illegal activity is not piracy,” the conservationist stated. “I don’t care what people call us. We’re not pirates,” he went on to say.
As reported on several occasions, Japan maintains that the whale hunts it organizes on a yearly basis serve research purposes, and are therefore legal.
Sea Shepherd members disagree and say that, as investigations have shown, it often happens that the marine mammals killed during such campaigns are not studied, but sold as food in several parts of the country. Hence the fact that they have the right not only to protest the practice, but also to actively try to put an end to it.
“They are criminals,” Captain Paul Watson told the court about the Japanese whalers and the people who support their actions.