Triton
11-05-2008, 09:56:PM
http://news.smh.com.au/aussie-doctor-tells-of-canada-terror/20080415-267g.html
Aussie doctor tells of Canada terror
April 15, 2008 - 4:29PM
An Australian doctor has told of her terror when Canadian police stormed an anti-sealing ship and pointed their guns at her.
Merryn Redenbach, 32, was the ship's doctor on a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel documenting Canada's annual seal hunt off the coast of Nova Scotia when authorities seized the ship on Saturday.
Dr Redenbach said she was leaving a room and about to enter a hallway when a Royal Canadian Mounted Police tactical response unit descended on the ship armed with automatic rifles and sub-machine guns.
"They entered our ship, which is an unarmed conservation vessel, and arrested ... all of the crew," Dr Redenbach, a paediatrician at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, said from Sydney, Nova Scotia.
"It was quite frightening because I was in a room and needed to step out into the hallway and I didn't know how they would react to that.
"At that time I was made to ... lie on the floor, with my hands on the floor, as were all of the other crew members."
The crew lay there for about 10 minutes before they were moved to the bridge of the ship.
They were held on the ship's back deck for about two hours before they were arrested and charged under Canada's Marine Mammals Regulations, Dr Redenbach said.
She said she was terrified, and worried about how the armed officers would react.
"They had guns which were pointed at us.
"It's a frightening experience to have an automatic weapon pointed in your direction.
"I was hoping that the people who were arresting us were professional and would not be easily alarmed into acting violently."
Dr Redenbach said the crew was transferred to a coast guard vessel in a metal box attached to a crane.
Female crew members were handcuffed to rails inside the vessel while the men were kept on the deck in zero temperatures for four to five hours, she said.
Eventually the crew was allowed inside the vessel while it continued its eight-hour journey to Sydney, Nova Scotia through thick ice.
Dr Redenbach said the Sea Shepherd ship, the Farley Mowat, was towed behind the authorities' vessel.
It sustained significant damage from the ice and was now unseaworthy, she said.
In Sydney, the captain and first mate were taken away and charged.
Dr Redenbach said the crew did not face the charges mentioned at the time the boat was seized.
But some, including herself and her partner, Australian crew member Sky Christensen, were arrested and detained for failing to present at a customs interview.
She said they had not intended entering Canada and were awaiting advice from the Australian consulate.
They were locked up overnight, she said.
Dr Redenbach maintains the boat was in international waters, not Canadian territory, at the time of the arrests.
"When we were arrested we were in international waters, and the entire campaign was conducted in international waters.
"We had no intention of coming into Canadian territory or waters."
The Sea Shepherd organisation, known for recent Antarctic anti-whaling voyages, claims 275,000 baby harp seals are "brutally killed" each year.
Dr Redenbach said the crew had some of their belongings returned, but some possessions remained on the Farley Mowat.
The couple would probably holiday in the United States and Europe before returning to Australia, Dr Redenbach said.
"I think we'd have to think hard about it before going again."
© 2008 AAP (http://news.smh.com.au/action/displayCopyrightNotice?sourceOrganisation=AAP)
Aussie doctor tells of Canada terror
April 15, 2008 - 4:29PM
An Australian doctor has told of her terror when Canadian police stormed an anti-sealing ship and pointed their guns at her.
Merryn Redenbach, 32, was the ship's doctor on a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel documenting Canada's annual seal hunt off the coast of Nova Scotia when authorities seized the ship on Saturday.
Dr Redenbach said she was leaving a room and about to enter a hallway when a Royal Canadian Mounted Police tactical response unit descended on the ship armed with automatic rifles and sub-machine guns.
"They entered our ship, which is an unarmed conservation vessel, and arrested ... all of the crew," Dr Redenbach, a paediatrician at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, said from Sydney, Nova Scotia.
"It was quite frightening because I was in a room and needed to step out into the hallway and I didn't know how they would react to that.
"At that time I was made to ... lie on the floor, with my hands on the floor, as were all of the other crew members."
The crew lay there for about 10 minutes before they were moved to the bridge of the ship.
They were held on the ship's back deck for about two hours before they were arrested and charged under Canada's Marine Mammals Regulations, Dr Redenbach said.
She said she was terrified, and worried about how the armed officers would react.
"They had guns which were pointed at us.
"It's a frightening experience to have an automatic weapon pointed in your direction.
"I was hoping that the people who were arresting us were professional and would not be easily alarmed into acting violently."
Dr Redenbach said the crew was transferred to a coast guard vessel in a metal box attached to a crane.
Female crew members were handcuffed to rails inside the vessel while the men were kept on the deck in zero temperatures for four to five hours, she said.
Eventually the crew was allowed inside the vessel while it continued its eight-hour journey to Sydney, Nova Scotia through thick ice.
Dr Redenbach said the Sea Shepherd ship, the Farley Mowat, was towed behind the authorities' vessel.
It sustained significant damage from the ice and was now unseaworthy, she said.
In Sydney, the captain and first mate were taken away and charged.
Dr Redenbach said the crew did not face the charges mentioned at the time the boat was seized.
But some, including herself and her partner, Australian crew member Sky Christensen, were arrested and detained for failing to present at a customs interview.
She said they had not intended entering Canada and were awaiting advice from the Australian consulate.
They were locked up overnight, she said.
Dr Redenbach maintains the boat was in international waters, not Canadian territory, at the time of the arrests.
"When we were arrested we were in international waters, and the entire campaign was conducted in international waters.
"We had no intention of coming into Canadian territory or waters."
The Sea Shepherd organisation, known for recent Antarctic anti-whaling voyages, claims 275,000 baby harp seals are "brutally killed" each year.
Dr Redenbach said the crew had some of their belongings returned, but some possessions remained on the Farley Mowat.
The couple would probably holiday in the United States and Europe before returning to Australia, Dr Redenbach said.
"I think we'd have to think hard about it before going again."
© 2008 AAP (http://news.smh.com.au/action/displayCopyrightNotice?sourceOrganisation=AAP)