Anti-Whaling Activist Testifies in US Court

Source: Associated Press

Anti-Whaling Activist Testifies in US Court
SEATTLE November 6, 2013 (AP)
By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press

A fugitive activist known for confronting Japanese whaling vessels off Antarctica took the witness stand in a U.S. appeals court Wednesday, hoping to persuade a commissioner that neither he nor the organization he founded violated an order requiring them to leave the whalers alone.

Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, testified in a contempt of court hearing in Seattle.

The white-goateed, 62-year-old described his history of environmental activism and accolades, and said he'd spent the past year at sea. He fled Germany in 2012 after being arrested at the behest of the Costa Rican government, and Japan continues to seek his arrest related to his interference with a whaling vessel in 2010.

"Over the last year there's been a lot of negotiation on different levels that allowed me to come ashore," he said, in response to a question from his lawyer. Watson did not elaborate, and it remained unclear whether he might still face arrest.

The case is part of a long-running fight between the protesters and Japan's whaling fleet, which kills up to 1,000 whales a year, as allowed by the International Whaling Commission. Japan is permitted to hunt the animals as long as they are killed for research and not commercial purposes, but whale meat not used for study is sold as food in Japan. Critics say that's the real reason for the hunts.


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