Post by Otaku on Mar 10, 2008 10:34:17 GMT 8
The link below also has video of the whole ordeal.
Protester 'shot' by Japanese coastguard
The Guardian
Saturday March 8 2008
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
The leader of an anti-whaling environmental group claimed yesterday that he had been shot by Japanese coastguard officers while on his ship in the Southern Ocean and had survived only because he was wearing a protective vest.
Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin, claimed a bullet struck him above the heart and that he had video footage of the ship's doctor removing it from his protective vest. Two other crew members were injured, the marine conservation group said. One injured his hip as he tried to dodge incoming "flash grenades", and another received bruises to the back when one of the grenades exploded behind him.
"I felt this impact on my chest," Watson told Australian radio. "I found a bullet buried in the Kevlar vest that I wear. It bruised my shoulder but it would have hit my heart if I didn't have the vest."
But Japanese officials said no shots had been fired. Tomohiko Taniguchi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said the mother ship, the Nisshin Maru, had warned Watson and his crew that it would retaliate with flash grenades unless they stopped throwing "stink bombs" containing butyric acid.
"The Nisshin Maru was attacked four times today," Taniguchi told the Guardian. "After the second wave of attacks Sea Shepherd was warned that if they threw more acid then the whaling ship would retaliate. But no bullets were fired."
Coastguard officers on the Nisshin Maru carry handguns but are not permitted to use them unless they are fired at first.
The flash grenades are designed to rupture in mid-air and produce a loud bang to deter protesters. One of seven grenades thrown at the anti-whaling vessel is thought to have exploded on deck.
Japan is anxious about the safety of its whaling crews as it comes under pressure to end culls in the Antarctic. This year the fleet had planned to kill almost 1,000 whales, but it is believed to be well below its quota due to clashes with protesters. Yesterday a protester scaled the Japanese embassy in London and unfurled a banner saying: "Japan stop your illegal whaling" as the International Whaling Commission met for closed talks near Heathrow.
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/08/whaling.activists
Protester 'shot' by Japanese coastguard
The Guardian
Saturday March 8 2008
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
The leader of an anti-whaling environmental group claimed yesterday that he had been shot by Japanese coastguard officers while on his ship in the Southern Ocean and had survived only because he was wearing a protective vest.
Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin, claimed a bullet struck him above the heart and that he had video footage of the ship's doctor removing it from his protective vest. Two other crew members were injured, the marine conservation group said. One injured his hip as he tried to dodge incoming "flash grenades", and another received bruises to the back when one of the grenades exploded behind him.
"I felt this impact on my chest," Watson told Australian radio. "I found a bullet buried in the Kevlar vest that I wear. It bruised my shoulder but it would have hit my heart if I didn't have the vest."
But Japanese officials said no shots had been fired. Tomohiko Taniguchi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said the mother ship, the Nisshin Maru, had warned Watson and his crew that it would retaliate with flash grenades unless they stopped throwing "stink bombs" containing butyric acid.
"The Nisshin Maru was attacked four times today," Taniguchi told the Guardian. "After the second wave of attacks Sea Shepherd was warned that if they threw more acid then the whaling ship would retaliate. But no bullets were fired."
Coastguard officers on the Nisshin Maru carry handguns but are not permitted to use them unless they are fired at first.
The flash grenades are designed to rupture in mid-air and produce a loud bang to deter protesters. One of seven grenades thrown at the anti-whaling vessel is thought to have exploded on deck.
Japan is anxious about the safety of its whaling crews as it comes under pressure to end culls in the Antarctic. This year the fleet had planned to kill almost 1,000 whales, but it is believed to be well below its quota due to clashes with protesters. Yesterday a protester scaled the Japanese embassy in London and unfurled a banner saying: "Japan stop your illegal whaling" as the International Whaling Commission met for closed talks near Heathrow.
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/08/whaling.activists