Press release - August 3, 2005
A judge in Alaska has overturned a jury verdict and acquitted Greenpeace of failing to register oil spill contingency plans. District Court Judge Kevin Miller declared the evidence did not support the guilty verdicts.
The case stemmed from a voyage the Arctic Sunrise made into Alaskan waters in 2004 to protest irresponsible forestry practices in the Tongass. The Arctic Sunrise had, and still has, all of the international environmental standards certificates required.
Stichting Marine Services (SMS) – the operator of the Arctic Sunrise – made a clerical error in not providing state confirmation of those international certificates that they already held in the time allotted to do so. A representative of SMS admitted the error, corrected it, and made it clear they were ready to accept the consequences. However, the state prosecutor insisted on prosecuting the environmental organisation’s national office in the United States instead of the ship’s operator.
"The fact that Greenpeace USA, who didn't own or operate the Arctic Sunrise, was forced to stand trial demonstrated just how politically motivated the charges and the case were,” said Tom Wetterer, General Counsel for Greenpeace USA. “Greenpeace USA was working to save the Tongass forest against powerful political and commercial interests. And for that, the authorities wanted Greenpeace to bear the full brunt of the law."
“The decision to prosecute was the equivalent of fining a car passenger US$ 200,000 for not having a driver's licence in their pocket,” added Wetterer. “Authorities who didn't want their poor environmental record exposed became hell-bent on punishing us for highlighting environmental destruction."
Last year, US Attorney General Ashcroft took Greenpeace to court under a century-old law governing prostitution in an unprecedented legal harassment of an NGO. The environmental group exposed a shipment of Brazilian mahogany being brought into Miami, which was illegal under U.S. law. The destroyers of the Amazon went free, while the Bush Administration put Greenpeace on trial.
In the news currently are revelations that the FBI has been using anti-terrorism funds and powers to spy on critics of the Bush Administration like Greenpeace, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a raft of other public-interest groups.
Other contacts: Mhairi Dunlop, Greenpeace International Media Officer, +31 646 126 026