BY ERIN POTTIE
Transcontinental Media
SYDNEY — Two anti-sealing activists have been found guilty of interfering with Canada’s East Coast seal hunt in waters off northern Cape Breton last year.
Peter Hammarstedt of Sweden, first officer of the protest ship Farley Mowat, and Captain Alexander Cornelissen of the Netherlands violated marine mammal regulations by repeatedly coming within half a nautical mile (926 metres) of the legal seal hunt without first obtaining an observer permit.
The charges stem from incidents March 30 and April 11-12, 2008.
Neither man appeared or had legal counsel for the 3 1/2-day trial that began in Sydney in late April.
In a lengthy decision read in provincial court Tuesday,June 30, Justice Jean Whalen said the case hung on three issues: whether Canada had jurisdiction to enforce relevant laws at the time, whether the accused were clearly identified, and whether they had come too close to the hunt without authorization.
“Based on the totality of the evidence, I find that the Crown has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt on each element of (the offences) and find the defendants guilty on all counts,” Whalen said.
(From the Cape Breton Post)
Sea Shepherd crew guilty of interfering with Canada's seal hunt
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