The Japanese crew had detained a Briton and an Australian. The crew had assaulted the two activists as they boarded the ship. Both activists were tied to the radar mast by the Japanese crew. As they were tied, they said they wanted charges of kidnap to be filed in Australia.
However, Minoru Morimoto of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) said that the two activists were neither assaulted nor harmed. But he denied that both activists were harmed or assaulted.
“It is illegal to board another country’s vessels on the high sea. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future,” Morimoto had added.
Benjamin Potts, the Australian and Giles Lane, the Britain boarded the Japanese whaling ship, the Yushin Maru 2 from the vessel, Steve Irwin which is part of the Sea Shepard campaign.
The group has accused the crew of holding both men hostage.
“Captain Paul Watson has notified the Australian Federal Police that he would like to see kidnapping charges brought against the Japanese whalers,” according to the statement.
The group said that the two had the intentions of delivering a message telling them that it was illegal to kill the whales because the practice has been outlawed in an Australian court.
While the Federal Court in Sydney said it was illegal for the Japanese fleet to hunt whales, the Japanese fleet did not stop the expedition. Japan said in the past that it will ignore injunction resulting from the case.
The fleet said killing the whales is for scientific purposes. However, Australia and other nations say that the goals could be attained via non-lethal methods and add that the program is just an excuse for commercial whaling.
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