Japan court convicts NZ anti-whaling activist

[cory777]

Source: AP

TOKYO – A Tokyo court on Wednesday convicted a New Zealand activist of assault and obstructing the Japanese whaling mission in the Antarctic Ocean, sentencing him to a suspended prison term.

Peter Bethune was also found guilty of three other charges: trespassing, vandalism and possession of a knife. He had pleaded guilty to all but the assault charge when his trial started in late May.

The court sentenced Bethune to two years in prison, with the sentence suspended for five years — meaning he won't be jailed.

The assault conviction was for throwing bottles of rancid butter at the whalers aboard their ship, including one that broke and gave three Japanese crew members chemical burns.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100707/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_whaling

[Poll_Blind]

1. Rancid butter can give you chemical burns?

Hunh.

PB

[Merchant Marine]

2. An interesting choice of sentence

They get to say they were tough on crime, and the Sea Shepherds don't get a martyr. Probably the best move the Japanese could have made as it defeats the purpose of Bethune's boarding.

[boppers]

3. Chemistry: not just for the elite!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butyric_acid

[DetlefK]

4. Butyric acid smells like a mix of vomit and sh*t

Believe me, you don't want to smell this in a high concentration.

[sui generis]

6. according to japanese "scientists"

the same lying bastards that claim they're doing scientific whaling and gave us Toyota.

[petronius]

7. Butyric acid is the chemical that makes rancid butter reek, but there are industrial

processes for producing it. The SS calls it "butter" to make it sound benign, but I doubt they're buying tubs of dairy products and waiting for it to spoil - butyric acid can be produced without any dairy input at all, and anyone who wants it probably just goes to the local chemical supply house and buys it by the gallon in whatever concentration they desire...

[Althaia]

5. this is so complicated

On the Sea Shepherd website, they claim they've never hurt anyone. They are engaged in a fierce war of words with Greenpeace, with both sides accusing each other of putting money and/or fame before the welfare of animals.

http://www.seashepherd.org/who-we-are/paul-watson-and-greenpeace.html

Is Greenpeace's insistence on nonviolence essentially ineffective? Are Paul Watson's very aggressive tactics earning him an eco-terrorist label? Is violence the only effective solution to corporate exploitation of animals and the environment?

[Doremus]

8. Not to criticize either group, but how much progress has Greenpeace made over the past decades?

Like war protests, sometimes you have to stand up and say ENOUGH!

Getting between the whales and those who are trying to kill them is an honorable pursuit, imo, and far more effective than saying please and thank you.

[boppers]

11. How much progress have the war protesters made in the past decade?

Interesting comparison.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. But how much progress has Watson made

Lots of $$$, but the whaling continues. Yes his claims are grandiose and he has a TV show, but now there are calls to openly allow whaling.

[flvegan]

9. Laughable, but not a shock.

Multiple attempted homicides on the high seas? Meh, Japan won't have any part of the investigation thankyouverymuch. So no charges. Trespassing and vandalism by a non-whaler? 5 years.

Sounds fair. Keep doing whatever you want, whalers. Your corruption allows it, and nobody is going to stop you.

[Kitsune]

10. I'm surprised the sentence was so light.

Usually if you dare to plead not guilty in a Japanese court and proceed to get convicted, you really get the book thrown at you.

[Green_Lantern]

12. I dont see how whaling is so bad...

We kill and eat cows, pigs, and chickens yet Westerners are so appalled by Japanese whaling.