Verdict pending in trial of two Sea Shepherd crew

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2009:
SYDNEY, Nova Scotia– Provincial court judge Jean Whalen on
April 30, 2009 said she would rule on June 30 as to whether Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society crew members Alex Cornelissen of Sweden
and Peter Hammarstedt of the Netherlands sailed closer to sealers
three times in 2008 than is allowed without an observer permit.
Cornelissen and Hammarstedt, captain and first mate of the
impounded Sea Shepherd vessel Farley Mowat, were tried in absentia.
Deported from Canada after the Farley Mowat was seized, they were
barred from re-entering, according to the Sea Shepherds. The
prosecution claimed that defendants in trials are allowed to return
to Canada to face charges in court proceedings.

The Canadian government in March 2009 solicited bids on the
Farley Mowat, to sell it in satisfaction of unpaid docking fees,
accumulated since the Farley Mowat was taken to Sydney by the
Canadian coast guard in April 2008. The 52-year-old former Sea
Shepherd flagship was due for retirement, Sea Shepherd founder Paul
Watson said earlier in 2008, but before the solicitation for bids
was issued, Watson warned that, “Who-ever buys the ship should be
aware that we retain the registry and bill of sale and will take back
what is ours…You don’t steal a ship from a pirate without
repercussions.”