ABOARD THE STEVE IRWIN – 15 January 2008 -- 0700 GMT
The captain of the Yushin Maru No. 2 is holding two Sea Shepherd crew hostage.
Australian citizen Benjamin Potts and British citizen Giles Lane have been tied to the radar mast of the harpoon vessel.
The Captain has refused Captain Paul Watson's demand for the release of the crew.
The two crew members boarded the whaler with a message to inform them that they were illegally killing whales in the Southern Whale Sanctuary.
Sea Shepherd is demanding that Australia and Great Britain demand an immediate release of these two crew-members.
The letter stated the following:
To: The Captain of any Japanese ship Involved with poaching operations in The Australian Antarctic Territorial Economic Exclusion Zone.
Sir,
My name is Giles David Lane
I am a British citizen and an unpaid volunteer on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Steve Irwin
I have come onboard your ship because you have refused to acknowledge communication from our ship pertaining to your illegal activities in the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territorial Economic Exclusion Zone.
I am not boarding your ship with the intent to commit a crime, to rob you or to inflict injury upon your crew and yourself or damage to your ship. My reason for boarding is to deliver the message that you are in violation of international conservation law and in violation of the laws of Australia. It is my intent to deliver this message and then to request that you allow me to disembark from your vessel without harm or seizure.
I am empowered to act to uphold these laws in accordance with the United Nations World Charter for Nature and the laws of Australia.
I am boarding you with the request that you please refrain from any further criminal activity in these waters and cease and desist with the continued killing of endangered whales in this designated Whale Sanctuary in violation of the IWC global moratorium on commercial whaling and that you cease and desist in continued violations of Australian law by killing whales within the territorial waters of Australia without permit or permission from the government of Australia.
I am boarding you on the orders of Captain Paul Watson who requests that you treat me with respect and in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
Today activists from the north continued our campaign against Axa insurance. We decided to visit their Lytham offices today to show them we could turn up at any of their offices at anytime. We arrived at Axa at about 9am there were still lots of workers coming in and out and due to the smoking ban quite a lot had to stand in the car park to have a smoke. This gave us a regular audiance of Axa workers. We handed out loads of leaflets and used the megaphone to inform passers by and nearby residents exactly what Axa are involved in. As usual the public were sickened to learn of Axa's involvement with animal torture at Huntingdon Life Sciences. After about 4 hours a worker walked passed us and said we were in the wrong place and that Axa were having a big 5 day conference at the Hilton Hotel in Blackpool and that top staff from France were their guests. So we jumped into the car and headed for blackpool...!
The Hilton Hotel is on the seafront and is a huge hotel. We arrived and confirmed that Axa were inside. The security guards went into a bit of a panic as we used the megaphone to inform everyone inside the hotel and surrounding hotels exactly what the company holding the conference were up to. Guests in the hotel were opening their windows to listen to what we had to say. The odd Axa worker stood at the door to have a smoke but other than that they stayed hidden out of sight. I guess they are too ashamed of the fact that they are trying to make money of the torture of innocent animals. We want to make it clear to Axa that we will follow you everywhere you go and expose your dirty secret. At every event you hold be prepared for a visit from us untill you sell your shares in Huntingdon.
Today as promised activists from the north visited axa insurance. This time we decided to pay them a visit at their big new premises near bolton. We arrived at 8 am just in time to greet the workers . We handed out leaflets and used a megaphone to inform the workers going into axa and other neighbouring businesses that axa are trying to make a profit from the torture of innocent animals inside huntingdon life sciences. We got a really good response from the workers from neighbouring companies many taking a few leaflets to distribute around their workplace. We stayed here for 2 1/2 hours before moving on to our next target. We headed to axa in manchester city centre. Due to our succesful morning in bolton, axa already knew we were were coming. The police turned up within minutes but we swiftley sent them packing. For the next 3 hours we gained lots of support from the public who were sickened to learn of axa's involvement in animal torture. We want to make it clear to axa we will keep coming back to your offices until you sell your shares in huntingdon life sciences. We have plenty more demos planned at locations across the northwest so unless you want even more public embarrasment then you better get rid of those blood shares.
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