Peter Bethune held in solitary confinement   17 Mar 2010

Peter Bethune, an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand, was brought back to Tokyo by the whaling ship, the Shonan Maru 2, after he boarded the ship in the southern Antarctic on Feb. 15.

Meetings were held with staff of the Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) and Tokyo Prison where Peter is being held and N.Z Embassy in Tokyo. Two written applications were presented to Tokyo Prison administration requesting interview with Peter. The 1st application presented on Monday 15th March was rejected on the grounds that there was a “communication ban” and only Embassy staff and his lawyer could meet with Peter. The 2nd application was presented on Tuesday morning after Gary Thomason had spent the night sitting in a wheelchair outside the prison gate in heavy monsoon rain.

This application was rejected on the grounds that Peter will not be allowed communication or visitors until after his indictment. The staff at Tokyo Prison refused to provide an answer to the question as to when this date for any possible indictment.

Staff at the N.Z Embassy in Tokyo accepted a hand written letter of support prepared by Gary Thomason which will be provided to Peter’s lawyer who will in turn convey this to Peter.

It is difficult at this stage to get any real idea of what will be the possible outcome other that the current single charge of trespass carried a maximum sentence of three years. There s also no indication whether further charges will arise from the current investigation by the JCG. According to Takeo Murui who is head of Tokyo Coast Guard office which is in charge of the investigation, this is the first time that the JCG has been involved in a case of ship trespassing in international waters.

What is clear is that the media in Japan are presenting this issue an attack on Japanese sovereignty and their right to maintain their cultural heritage of eating whales. This was raised during a interview of Gary Thomason by a Tokyo television crew outside Tokyo prison. In subsequent period over 50 Tokyo residents questioned as to whether they or anyone they knew ate whale meat. No single person could say that they knew anyone who ate whale meat except one young woman said “maybe my great great grandmother…no one eats it any more” It would appear that the annual whale hunts in southern waters are being continued to support a politically motivated nationalistic attitude.

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