Australian police searched two anti-whaling ships at the request of Japanese authorities yesterday, seizing log books and videos, after activists called a halt to their turbulent harassment campaign.
Police boarded the Sea Shepherd group’s Steve Irwin and Bob Barker ships as they were greeted by well-wishers in Tasmania, but refused to reveal the reasons for the search warrant.
“As a result of a formal referral from Japanese authorities, the Australian Federal Police can confirm it conducted a search warrant in boarding the Steve Irwin this morning,” a police spokesman said.
He said the group’s sister ship, the Bob Barker, was also boarded and searched when it docked later, without giving further details.
The searches are the latest drama surrounding this year’s hunt after the activists had a high-tech powerboat sliced in two and sunk during clashes that also involved rancid-butter stink bombs, water cannons and acoustic weapons.
The trimaran’s captain later boarded a Japanese ship to make a citizen’s arrest of the captain and present a US$3 million bill. He remains in Japanese custody.
Sea Shepherd spokesman Paul Watson said police seized extensive documents, but added he would welcome any court action by the Japanese.
“They’ve already seized log books, videos, photographs, charts, GPS recordings and copies of the computer hard drives,” Watson told national news agency AAP. “There’s nothing I would love better than to have this whole thing blow up in an Australian court. Let’s clean all the laundry once and for all.”
Bob Brown, leader of Australia’s Green party, condemned the move as “outrageous” and said at least five police had boarded the ship.
“This is outrageous that Australian police are at the disposal of the Japanese whale killers,” he said.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has angered Japan by vowing court action this year unless they agree to phase out the whale hunts, said the searches were purely a police matter.
“If the Sea Shepherd has in any way violated any relevant law where Australian authorities are involved, that probably lies in the independent decision-making processes of the Australian Federal Police,” he said.
Australia and Japan earlier this week held intense discussions at International Whaling Commission talks in Florida over a compromise deal which would let Japan, Norway and Iceland hunt a limited number of whales openly.
The Steve Irwin, Bob Barker and Ady Gil set off in December to chase the whalers, but found themselves being harried by the Shonan Maru No. 2 security boat, which was equipped with high-grade acoustic weapons and water cannon.
The wave-piercing, carbon-hulled Ady Gil — which set the round-the-world record under its former name, Earthrace — was seriously damaged in its first confrontation with the fleet on Jan. 6, and later sank.
One month later, the activists accused the whalers of deliberately ramming the Bob Barker ship, a claim the Japanese denied. They finished the annual hunt two weeks ahead of schedule after running out of fuel.
Despite the group’s difficulties, Sea Shepherd has said this year has been their best yet and had reduced the Japanese haul by half, costing the whalers between US$70 million and US$80 million.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia