by Gareth Hughes
I’m looking forward to meeting the Steve Irwin and her crew when they arrive in Wellington tomorrow.
While life goes on as normal in Parliament it seems the Government has forgotten we have a Kiwi sitting, right now, in a Japanese jail.
I asked the Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully, on Tuesday what he was doing to help New Zealander Peter Bethune. Mr Bethune did what our Government hasn’t done, which is to stand up to illegal Japanese whaling. He was detained by a Japanese whaling vessel as he tried to deliver a citizen’s arrest to the Captain who had allegedly rammed his boat, the Ady Gil.
In response to my question the Minister conceded jurisdiction in this case to Japan, essentially saying “not much”. I don’t think this is good enough. The New Zealand legal system could be dealing with this issue.
I’m urging Mr McCully to explore the legal opportunity in the Maritime Crimes Act 1999, to bring our man home. You can read the background and legal opinion here.
I think the Government should have looked down this avenue earlier, however I’m not surprised. The Government has been very quiet on the plight of Peter Bethune, and has switched to a very weak stance towards Japan on their whaling. The Government is supporting a position at the International Whaling Commission which would see Japanese whale hunting legalised. Ostensibly it’s an attempt to reduce the numbers killed – but I think Kiwi’s understand you can’t save whales by killing them.
Let’s do more than providing consular support and having the occasional chat with Japan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Katsuya Okada about Bethune. Let’s try harder to join with the Aussies who are already campaigning hard to bring home Bethune and return to our prior long standing anti-whaling stance.
Published in Environment & Resource Management by Gareth Hughes on Thu, March 18th, 2010
More posts by Gareth Hughes | more about Gareth Hughes
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Agreed, Gareth. New Zealand generally has a history of displaying a strong diplomatic backbone and while we haven’t always been supported (Rainbow Warrior) it has brought us heaps of kudos for standing up for what we believe in. This government has a history of running away from such diplomatic difficulties:
-Refusing to take part in the UN Anti-racism conference
-Leaving Copenhagan early
-Refusing to meet the Delai Lama…..
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The National Government’s neglect of Peter Bethune is indicative of its priorities – money, money then money!
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I’m not sure what the Citizen’s arrest was about- technically under NZ and International law there is no such thing – in NZ as per the neighbourhood watch website – only de criminalisation of such an act
Remember the Moment the whalers enter NZ waters we can turn our Frigates/ “Multi Purpose Patrol Vessels on ‘em
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Bethune illegally boarded another vessel.
The Sea Shepherd society has a history of reckless sailing, how you think they have no part to blame in the collision is beyond comprehension.
“The Government is supporting a position at the International Whaling Commission which would see Japanese whale hunting legalised. Ostensibly it’s an attempt to reduce the numbers killed – but I think Kiwi’s understand you can’t save whales by killing them.”
What is happening now is clearly not working. Instead of going down the normal green path of banning anything you disagree with, perhaps you could look at it another way? From my understanding of the numbers proposed under the new limits, the number of whales killed would be less than the numbers reported killed by the Sea Shepherd, surely this is a win?
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Luke said: Bethune illegally boarded another vessel.
He boarded another vessel. That is a fact. Whether he did so legally or illegally is a matter of law, which has yet to be determined by courts of competent jurisdiction.
Consider section 4 and section 8(2) of the Maritime Crimes Act. If his intention was to make a citizen’s arrest in respect of section 4, as I understand he states, there is an argument that his boarding the whaling ship was legal.
I would have thought that, given the Waihopai Three verdict yesterday, people would be being very careful about stating what actions are legal and what are illegal without the matter having been judicially determined.
“…allegedly illegally boarded another ship…” is what you should have said Luke.
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Cause either he got what he wanted, or he is very very shortsighted.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Charles: “Does anyone disagree that he knew beforehand that he would be arrested and is doing this as an active media stunt?”
sure, he can’t say he didn’t expect it to work out like this. But I’m not sure if that makes him in the wrong – his attempt at a citizen’s arrest for the sinking of his boat may still be legally justified.
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Australian Green Party Leader Bob Brown was on Morning Report this morning talking about Peter Bethune and Japanese whaling.
He pointed out we could see a situation where the Japanese skipper of the Shonan Maru 2 is on trial in Australia, for ramming a New Zealand-flagged vessel, and Kiwi skipper of the Ady Gil, Pete Bethune, is on trial in Japan for trespass, while our Government sits on the sidelines.
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Hmmm, interesting voting on these posts.
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yes it is usually I end up being neutrally voted… Where I Prefer to be…
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toad, technically you are correct, but you and I can both look at a video on youtube of him boarding the vessel.
What did he expect was going to happen though? Did he think he would be able to walk up to the captain, take the captain back down to the deck, summon his pirate mates on the Steve Irwin, escort the captain down a ladder and then back to the Steve Irwin via the jet ski that took him to the boat?
Also, anyone else find this strange- boat name= Steve Irwin, comment from Gareth “her crew”.
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Luke – can you summarise Key’s proposal for saving the whales for us?
I’d appreciate hearing how you interpret the changes proposed.
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greenfly, I have other things to do sorry, I am sure you can use google though.
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Luke – if you’re busy then.. but I was after your take on it, not the press release. You said,
“From my understanding of the numbers proposed under the new limits, the number of whales killed would be less than the numbers reported killed by the Sea Shepherd, surely this is a win?”
So I assumed you had a grasp of the proposal and favoured it.
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Luke, yes I know it was designed to attract maximum publicity.
stephensmikm: section 35 Crimes Act:
A similar provision exists under section 3Z of the Australian Crimes Act:
The destruction of a ship is certainly a qualifying offence for an arrest by someone other than a constable under both New Zealand and Australian jurisdiction.
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@ toad – yes, that’s right it’s justification not power – it means that the same has stabbing a person you’re trying to murder effectively. However, those laws are outside NZ jurisdiction, we cannot intervene, even within our economic zone unfortunately because I’m fairly certain they’ve entered NZ and Aussie Zones on numerous occasions
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“or has just committed”
Peter Bethune’s actions were not just after the sinking, so his was a dubious action.
Trevor.
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The destruction of a ship is certainly a qualifying offence for an arrest by someone other than a constable under both New Zealand and Australian jurisdict
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“@ toad – yes, that’s right it’s justification not power – it means that the same has stabbing a person you’re trying to murder effectively. However, those laws are outside NZ jurisdiction, we cannot intervene, even within our economic zone unfortunately because I’m fairly certain they’ve entered NZ and Aussie Zones on numerous occasions”
Whoops, unfortunate Freudian Slip
this is what I meant
:
@ toad – yes, that’s right it’s justification not power – it means that the same as stabbing a person who’s trying to murder you effectively. However, those laws are outside NZ jurisdiction, we cannot intervene, even within our economic zone unfortunately because I’m fairly certain they’ve entered NZ and Aussie Zones on numerous occasions
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@Trevor29 2:42 PM
I guess that depends on how “just after” is interpreted. I think Bethune would argue that he attempted it at the first opportunity he had to do so after the alleged offence occurred, and that that should fall within the meaning of “just after”, since it was impractical for him to do it at any earlier time. Attempting to effect a citizens arrest isn’t a practicality when your ship is sinking and your focus is on the safety of your crew.
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I believe that the normal reason for a “citizen’s arrest” is to allow the capture of an unidentified offender before that offender gets away, or before they can commit another offense. If the offender is already identified, then action can usually be taken against the offender even though they have got away.
In this case, did Peter Bethune know the identity of the offender? Clearly he knew the identity of the vessel, and I would have thought that would be sufficient. Therefore there was no need for immediate action.
To me, his actions seem just an attention getting exercise. The court case against the vessel would be the way to go.
Trevor.
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Its the Steve Irwin and its crew that need to be arrested. They belong to an organisation that has sunk several ships around the world and to this day seeks to sink more.
The Green Party in showing support for this organisation, is showing support for terrorism.
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sweetd wrote: “Its the Steve Irwin and its crew that need to be arrested. They belong to an organisation that has sunk several ships around the world and to this day seeks to sink more.”
really?
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“Soon after Watson’s eviction from Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and its ship-ramming philosophy were born. SSCS’s band of pirates have disrupted the legal Canadian seal hunt, attacked whaling ships and fishing boats using driftnets, and taken credit for spiking (inserting large nails into) thousands of trees. The group has sunk at least ten ships in Iceland, Norway, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and the Canary Islands. Watson has even sunk his own ships rather than let the authorities take them. And he has spent time in the jails of Canada and the Netherlands. “Any whaling ship on the ocean is a target for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,” he has said.”
http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/347-sea-shepherd-conservation-society
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Yes. To an extent. I believe they are a legitimately recognised terrorist organisation in Japan, Newfoundland and Labour And have been tabled in the US Congress as one,
Technically if they undertook the activities they did on the high seas they could be prosecuted for alot of crimes that have absolutely no justification such as S199of the CA.
They also have to regularly change what flag they fly under due to the de-registration of vessels on a very regular occurrence
NZ and Tasmania have a neutral policy but the Federal Police of Australia have an Immense dislike of their organisation
I’ve already stated my opinion but these are the facts that some people need to be aware of – they are in essence a International Vigilante group, whether that makes them terrorists is dependant on where they are
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@’fly, Toad
some interesting pix here:
http://greenvoices.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/going-aboard-the-steve-irwin/
@Gareth: Nice postcards, hope you got out for a boogie with the crew
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