Rebecca Aldworth on trial in Canada for documenting seal hunt

[Annces]

5 charged with breaking seal hunt rules go on trial
Oct. 17 2007
The Canadian Press

HAVRES-AUX-MAISONS, Que. -- Freedom of speech will be at the centre of a courtroom battle that will pit the federal Fisheries Department against five people charged with violating the rules for those who head to the ice floes to observe Canada's controversial seal hunt.

Beginning Thursday, the five defendants -- all critics of the annual hunt off Canada's east coast -- will stand trial in a court on Isles de la Madeleine, the windswept archipelago in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

They are charged with violating federal marine mammal regulations by coming within 10 metres of seal hunters. The offence is alleged to have occurred during the 2006 hunt in the southern Gulf, near the Cape Breton coast.

All five have pleaded not guilty.

"We will vigorously defend ourselves against these charges," said animal rights activist Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues with the Humane Society of the United States.



http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071017/seal_hunt_071017/20071017?hub=Canada





Today, as you read this, I and four other members of Humane Society International's ProtectSeals team will go on trial for documenting the commercial seal hunt.

Alarmed by the international outcry against the hunt, the Canadian government is desperate to cover up the cruelty that takes place on the ice every year when sealers slaughter hundreds of thousands of seal pups for their fur. And the government appears ready to sink to desperate tactics to stop us from exposing the truth.


The incident in question happened on March 26, 2006. My team of observers and I filmed sealers as they killed helpless baby seals, documenting apparent violations of hunt regulations. Without warning, officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) stopped us and accused us of being slightly within the 10-meter distance from seal hunters required by our observation permits. We were not, and we have the evidence to prove it.

Tell Canada what you think of its attempt to draw a curtain around the cruelty of the commercial seal hunt: Contact Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today.

Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues
Humane Society International


full article
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=136484350&blogID=320293502


Go to this site to support Rebecca’s case:

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/global_dfo_seal_hunt2/w3638b84akwne7i?


UPDATE:

Trial of Five Seal-Hunt Observers Put on Hold Until May, 2008

http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/seal_hunt_observers_trial_on_hold_101907.html

[flvegan]

1. BTW, Ms. Aldworth is a total kickass activist. She's got some dirty hands.

She was one of the fearless on IFAW's front lines for a long time before joining HSUS on this same front.

I'd totally take this girl home to mom...Swoon!

[CrispyQ]

2. Thank you for this thread.

"Alarmed by the international outcry against the hunt, the Canadian government is desperate to cover up the cruelty that takes place on the ice every year when sealers slaughter hundreds of thousands of seal pups for their fur. And the government appears ready to sink to desperate tactics to stop us from exposing the truth."

Governments around the world want to repress We the People.