Sea Shepherd’s Peter Bethune Set Free in Japan

Former Sea Shepherd member Peter Bethune has been given a suspended prison sentence in Japan after pleading guilty to the crimes of obstructing business, trespass, vandalism and carrying a knife:

Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson told media following anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune’s sentencing that because of a deal that had been negotiated with the Japanese, Mr Bethune would not be on the next Sea Shepherd protest.

“We can’t have him come on the next Antarctic campaign because of a deal we made with the Japanese,” Mr Watson told TV3 news. “But he’ll certainly be welcome to be involved with us.”

Mr Watson said the defence had cost the Sea Shepherd in excess of $500,000.

Peter Bethune was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence that will see him kept out of jail, provided he stays out of trouble with Japanese authorities for the next five years. Reports out of Japan suggest he will be deported immediately.

{democracy:458}

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connie

“….Mr Watson said the defence had cost the Sea Shepherd in excess of $500,000″

is that 500,000 Yen or 500,000 US dollars?

I find it hard to believe that it’s 500,000 US Dollars.

Liam

Likely $500,000 Australian Dollars, since that’s the Australian ABC news.

I have to say, I don’t like the way that this was covered here. The ABC was the least biased of the coverage that I saw, but the way it was reported made it seem like he didn’t do anything wrong, and that he isn’t a criminal and an eco-terrorist.

righteous

Because he did not do anything wrong.

If you interpret the situation in a neutral point of view, you could realise that it is about agendas, including yours.

And

I don’t like that guy very much. But a couple of years in prison? Come on…
Mark

How did they manage to spend half a million dollars on lawyers in Japan. Even considering that it’s a criminal case, that is really fishy. I call for an audit!

Japan is a really expensive country … except for legal representation, where it’s really cheap.

Here’s my guess. Assuming there’s no outright fraud and money laundering by Sea Shephard, the money was probably mostly spend on non legal fees, like air fare for SS bigwigs, hotels for them, media cost to product propaganda to milk publicity from the case, flying in “expert witnesses” whose only role is publicity for SS, and so on.
xapiskeed

There should have been a 2nd grade celebrity prisoner exchange with Kobayashi for Bethune…
Steve Bellamy

This whole story is utter rubbish. First time convictions will always receive a suspended sentence. He go a few months in Japanese prison and he will be deported. No big deal and there was no ‘deal’
http://photogchris.wordpress.com chris

I believe Peter Bethune is an idiot. Seriously, I think he might have been brainwashed into a fanatic and has delusions of grandeur. He boarded a ship thinking he would be able to detain the captain. If he attempted that in the US he would have spent time in prison, but we love to imprison people here compared to Japan. But, if this sentencing is normal for Japanese justice, who am I to say different.

But back to delusions of grandeur. These people have been given money, are treated like heroes to the point Animal Planet has made a show about them. They have committed many crimes but never been charged or held accountable. That has to cause some type of psychosis. Instead of a suspended sentence maybe he should have had a psych evaluation and spent some time in a metal ward. Okay, so maybe I just said different. Meh, whatever, whats done is done, we’ll see if they learned anything from this.
Razor

If he wasn’t some liberal douche, and this numbnut illegally boarded any other foreign vessel he would be put in jail for a long time.
yom

i thought sea shepherd sacked this guy?

Dev

Thats what I thought too. So why now the sudden love-dovey acknowledgment?
http://www.google.com/profiles/havill Eido Inoue

From an Australian paper:

Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson told Radio New Zealand the move was just a legal strategy during the trial.

“I don’t think he’ll be going back this season, because I think he’s going to be writing a book, which is good, but he’s certainly welcome back in the future,” he said.

So the claiming of sacking was a lie.

Dev

We apologise again for the fault in the sacking. Those
responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked
have been sacked.

temana

Haha J-nationalist psychos. Welcome home Pete. Look after your family.
marc

A grade muppet. I only hope he does it again and goes to prison for a long time with a sentence to be handed down by the japanese goverment which includes a daily diet of nothing but whale meat…..

Sea Shepherd’s Peter Bethune Set Free in Japan

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