Court Declares Seal Hunt Observers Innocent
17 October 2008
Today, Judge Jean-Paul Deoste declared the defendants innocent in the case
against five seal hunt observers, including UK citizen Mark Glover. This
verdict has been anticipated since the case first began in October 2007.
"The evidence showed without a doubt that my clients were innocent and I
thank Judge Decoste for seeing through the Crown’s illogical arguments to the
contrary and finding them innocent,” said Clayton Ruby, lawyer for the accused.
In March of 2006, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Department of Fisheries and
Oceans officer Jean-Francois Sylvestre charged the five defendants - Mark Glover
of Respect for Animals and Humane Society International, Canadians Rebecca Aldworth
and Andrew Plumbly and Americans Chad Sisneros and Pierre Grzybowski of Humane
Society of the United States - with violating a condition of their observation
licenses which requires they remain at least 10m from sealing activity. The defendants
were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence documenting the commercial seal hunt to bring
the shocking images of baby seals being clubbed, shot and even being skinned
alive to the world.
The defense case rested heavily on the video records of four separate parties;
a Canadian government ship, an independent reporter and two of the accused which
scientifically showed that the defendants were at least 19.6m from sealing activity
at the time of the incident. Judge Decoste refused to hear the experts who were
called by the defense, but nonetheless found, after viewing the tapes himself,
that the Crown case had not been proved.
“This was not only a victory for my clients but for the entire Canadian justice
system,” continued Ruby. “Today’s ruling proves what we have been saying all
along. These charges should never have been brought in the first place and were
a huge waste of taxpayer money, charitable funds and judicial resources. Our
presence documenting this cruel hunt of baby seals, keeps the pressure of world
criticism on Canada and enables us to urge the rest of the world to refuse seal
products.”