News / Environmentalists raise $300,000
SEA SHEPHERD supporters have raised as much as $300,000 during the last 24 hours to help free the conservation society’s flagship Steve Irwin, currently detained in Lerwick Harbour.
The radical environmentalists had planned to leave Shetland to interrupt the annual Faroese pilot whale grind, but were served with a court order on Friday after the Maltese fishing company Fish & Fish brought a civil lawsuit in the British courts.
The company said the Sea Shepherd had caused damages of 1 million euros when the Steve Irwin rammed a fish pen off the Libyan coast in June last year freeing 600 bluefin tuna.
Sea Shepherd has now to deposit a bond of 1 million euros, or $1.4 million, to be able to leave Shetland.
On Thursday, Sea Shepherd president Paul Watson expressed his frustration with the speed the British court system works.
He said the organisation had no problem depositing the $1.4 million imposed, but he had not been told how this should be done.
“We still don’t have an answer from the court in Aberdeen as to what the exact bond is and where to post it. We could post it immediately.
“We have raised about $300,000 in the last 24 hours, and that is money to cover the line of credit we have in place.”
“It seems the system penalises you even before you get to court,” he said.
He added that the organisation plans to leave Lerwick as soon as the bond has been accepted to join the Brigitte Bardot, Sea Shepherd’s other vessel, which currently “patrols” Faroese waters.
Mr Watson said the vessel had cleared customs and immigration in Torshavn and had recruited two Faroese campaigners on board.
“We seem to have a bit of a support base up there. We also showed the film Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist in Torshavn on Wednesday night and quite a few people came,” he said.
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