Japanese Whaling Ship Crew Assaults, Kidnaps Anti-Whaling Activists

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(NaturalNews) Two anti-whaling activists attempting to deliver a letter requesting that a Japanese whaler desist its illegal activities were seized and held captive for two days, after first being tied out in the cold for 20 minutes.

Earlier this year, Benjamin Potts of Australia and Giles Lane of the United Kingdom steered a rubber raft from the Steve Irwin, flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, to the Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru II. Their task was to deliver a letter informing the whaling captain that he was violating international law and should leave Antarctic waters at once.

Expecting to deliver the letter and leave, the two activists jumped up on board the whaling ship.

"As soon as we boarded, we were rushed by the Japanese crew," Potts said. "They seized us. Two guys picked me up by the shoulders, and the gunner, the guy that shoots the whales, picked up my legs and they attempted to tip me over. They were unsuccessful because I held on to a guard rail."

The two men were then tied to a guard rail and later to a mast, for a total of about 20 minutes.

"The ship turned sharply to port, and we were soaked," Potts said.

They were then taken into a cabin and held for the next two days and three nights. The men say that they were provided with clean sheets, meals of rice and green tea, and allowed to shower, but that they were not allowed to communicate with their ship or told what would happen to them.

For two days, the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom and Japan argued over what would happen with the men. Eventually, an Australian ship was sent to pick them up and return them to the Steve Irwin.

Sea Shepherd accuses Japan of violating an international ban on commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research, and Potts and Lane said they would keep working to stop the hunt.

"The treatment that we received was trivial in comparison to the suffering that the whales experience," Lane said.

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