{"id":62348,"date":"2015-08-10T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=62348"},"modified":"2015-08-10T11:50:53","modified_gmt":"2015-08-10T10:50:53","slug":"sea-shepherd-found-guilty-by-danish-court-of-defending-pilot-whales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/08\/sea-shepherd-found-guilty-by-danish-court-of-defending-pilot-whales\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea Shepherd Found Guilty by Danish Court of Defending Pilot Whales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"logo-Sleppid-Grindini-200x200<\/a>Yesterday [6 Aug 2015], Netherlands-based marine conservation charity, Sea Shepherd Global, and five Sea Shepherd volunteer crewmembers were found guilty in a Danish court of breaking the Faroe Islands Pilot Whaling Act. All parties also face a subsequent conviction of public disturbance.<\/p>\n

The volunteers were facing charges relating to the \u201ccrime\u201d of interfering in the slaughter of over 250 pilot whales on the killing beaches of B\u00f8ur and T\u00f3rshavn in the Faroe Islands on July 23. During the trial, which took place earlier this week, the prosecution also implicated Sea Shepherd Global in the \u201coffense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sea Shepherd Land Team Leader, Rosie Kunneke <\/strong>of South Africa<\/strong>, and fellow Sea Shepherd volunteer, Christophe Bondue <\/strong>of Belgium<\/strong>, were arrested on the beach of B\u00f8ur where 111 pilot whales were slaughtered. Kunneke has been ordered to pay a fine of 35,\u00a0000 kroner (approximately 4 690 euros) or spend 14 days in jail. Bondue has been ordered to pay a fine of 25 000 kroner (approximately 5,000 USD or 3,350 euros) or spend 14 days in jail.<\/p>\n

\"news-150808-1-2-Verdict-Profiles2-550w<\/a><\/p>\n

Xavier Figarella <\/strong>of Corsica (France)<\/strong> and Marianna Baldo <\/strong>of Italy<\/strong> were arrested as they attempted to document the B\u00f8ur slaughter from their tender. Both have been ordered to pay a fine of 30,000 kroner (approximately 4,400 USD or 4,020 euros) or spend 14 days in jail.<\/p>\n

Kevin Schiltz<\/strong> of Luxembourg<\/strong> was arrested later that day at the second slaughter in T\u00f3rshavn, where 142 pilot whales were slaughtered. Schlitz has been ordered to pay a fine of 5,000 kroner (approximately 740 USD or\u00a0670 euros) or spend eight days in jail.<\/p>\n

Sea Shepherd Global has also been fined 75,000 kroner (approximately 11,000 USD\u00a010,050 euros) for allegedly orchestrating the incidents that led to the crewmember\u2019s arrests, although the organization steadfastly denies any wrongdoing. Authorities in the Faroe Islands will also keep possession of the tender, used by Figarella and Baldo on July 23.<\/p>\n

\"news-150808-1-1-150723-MW-grind-(7)-280w<\/a>

July 23, 2015. 111 pilot whales slaughtered on the B\u00f8ur killing beach. Photo: Mayk Wendt<\/p><\/div>\n

At the trial, Kunneke refused to enter a plea and has since stated, \u201cI did not enter a plea because I do not recognize the Faroese Pilot Whaling Act as a legitimate law. Denmark is a signatory state of the Bern Convention. Denmark’s support of the grindadr\u00e1p runs against the sentiments of its obligations under this convention, as do our arrests – which were undertaken by police officers who are officially\u00a0a part of Denmark’s National Police Force, and our trial in this court – which is officially a part of the Danish legal system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The slaughter of cetaceans is outlawed throughout the European Union, including Denmark, in accordance with Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention).<\/p>\n

However, in the Faroe Islands, the slaughter of pilot whales and other small cetaceans continues with the assistance of the Danish Police Force and Navy, and with the blessing of the Danish government.<\/p>\n

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor is now attempting to deport the five volunteers from the Faroe Islands. Appeals are currently being lodged in relation to all charges.<\/p>\n

A total of seven Sea Shepherd crewmembers from seven different countries have been arrested in the Faroe Islands since July 20. All are facing charges relating to breaches of the Pilot Whaling Act.<\/p>\n

Susan Larsen<\/strong> of the United States<\/strong> and Tom Strerath<\/strong> of Germany<\/strong> were arrested on July 20 following an attempted grindadr\u00e1p near Klaksv\u00edk in the northeast of the archipelago. Larsen has been allowed to return to the United States following a preliminary hearing. Strerath remains in the Faroe Islands, his passport confiscated by local authorities. A follow-up court date for the pair is yet to be scheduled.<\/p>\n

Sea Shepherd has been leading opposition to the grindadr\u00e1p since the early 1980s, and is currently in the Faroe Islands for the organization\u2019s sixth Pilot Whale Defense Campaign, Operation Sleppid Grindini<\/em>.<\/p>\n

__________________________________<\/p>\n

Sea Shepherd is the world’s leading direct-action ocean conservation organisation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 seashepherd.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday [6 Aug 2015] five Sea Shepherd volunteer crewmembers were found guilty in a Danish court of breaking the Faroe Islands Pilot Whaling Act for the \u201ccrime\u201d of interfering in the slaughter of over 250 pilot whales on the killing beaches of B\u00f8ur and T\u00f3rshavn on July 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}