Oslo,13 July 1999 Greenpeace today will file criminal charges against the skipper of the whaling ship "Kato". During a peaceful protest crew members of the whaling ship fired a total of three shots at the crew of a Greenpeace inflatable 120 sea-miles off the Norwegian coast. Earlier on, only one shot was reported but Greenpeace crew members confirmed two more shots. The inflatable which was hit by a bullet belongs to the Greenpeace ship MV Sirius which was towed into Stavanger by the Norwegian Coast Guard ship Nornan early today. Norwegian police confiscated the inflatable with the bullet hole as well as most film and stills documentation of the event.

"I think the coast guard arrested the wrong boat. First we get fired at and then we get arrested by the coast guard who looked on while we were getting shot at, said Mats Abrahamsson, on board the MV Sirius. Does that mean that people can kill you when you don nott have a local permit for a peaceful demonstration?"

A Norwegian member of parliament, Steinar Bastensen, who is known as an outspoken pro-whaling advocate in Norway participated in the hunt and was on board the vessel Kato.

"This is the second time in a month that Greenpeace activists' lives are put in danger with the consent of the Norwegian Coast Guard", said Frode Pleym, Norwegian whale campaigner. "We may be used to authorities clamping down on our protests but risking people's lives goes over the limit. Somebody could have been easily hurt or even killed. We will therefore be pressing criminal charges."

On June 12, UK activists Mark Hardingham was seriously injured when a Norwegian Coast Guard inflatable rammed into his inflatable. This time the Norwegian Coast Guard watched passively as the whalers shot three times at the inflatable.

The environmental group Greenpeace has been peacefully protesting Norwegian whaling activities which take place annually since 1993, despite the International Whaling Commission's moratorium forbidding it and despite art. 65 of the Law of the Sea Convention which requires all countries to cooperate with the IWC for the conservation of whales.

In addition, Greenpeace has documented that the two biggest whale meat storage facilities in Norway are filled with blubber and whale meat, some boxes dating back to 1986. The fact that whale meat consumption is at an all time low has caused the whalers to put pressure on the Norwegian Government to allow the export of whale products, despite the international trade ban by CITES (1).

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a treaty which currently prohibits

international sale of whale meat and other products. CITES member nations have traditionally honored the advice of the IWC on all matters pertaining to whales. CITES will meet next in Nairobi in April 2000, during which Japan and Norway, are expected to push for a lift of the ban. Despite their defeat in the IWC meeting.

For more information, please check our minute by minute updates or contact:

Frode Pleym frode@nordic.greenpeace.org , Whale Campaigner Greenpeace Nordic, +47 95 80 49 50 (mob)

Mats Holmberg mats@nordic.greenpeace.org , Press Officer Greenpeace Nordic +46 8 702 70 74, +46 70 772 64 10 (mob)

Holger Roenitz, Press Officer Greenpeace International + 31 20 5249 545 or 31 653 50 4701