All 21 crew members on the anti-whaling activist vessel, Bob Barker, which arrived in the Faroe Islands today, have been denied entry to the country. The police made the decision with a basis in immigration legislation and in the interests of maintaining law and order.
In recent weeks, anti-whaling activists representing the animal rights group Sea Shepherd have deliberately attempted to disrupt the legal and regulated activity of driving and killing pilot whales for food in the Faroe Islands, leading to the arrest, prosecution and expulsion from the Faroe Islands of a number of these activists.
The Government of the Faroe Islands places great importance on freedom of speech and the democratic right of all citizens, both in the Faroes and in all other countries, to express their views openly.
Deliberate disturbance of the Faroese utilisation of marine resources for food will not be tolerated. Obstructing a whale drive can be dangerous and can put people and property at risk. The police must use legal procedures available to ensure that law and order is upheld and that the people of the Faroe Islands can go about their daily lives without the threat of illegal disruption of their activities.
The illegal and potentially dangerous actions by activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, combined with attempts to spread deliberately misleading information to the media, continue to be the hallmark of this group’s activities.
More information on whaling in the Faroe Islands is available at: www.whaling.fo
Contact Páll Nolsøe, Communication Advisor, for more information: tel. +298 551028, palln@tinganes.fo