Ric O'Barry's
Dolphin Project
February 2016
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"It is ironic that they are deporting me to keep me
quiet, when they themselves have brought more attention to the dolphin
slaughter than ‘The Cove’ movie."
~ Ric O'Barry
"This is a desperate attempt by the Japanese
Government to hide the atrocities in Taiji. My dad was being held as a
political prisoner. They have run out of excuses on why the slaughter and
sale of mercury-contaminated dolphin meat continues."
~ Lincoln O’Barry
"This is the beginning of something, not the end. The
deportation is the green light to sue the government, something we have
never had before."
~ Ric O'Barry
Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project and star of the
Oscar winning documentary “The Cove” has been deported from Japan, where he
has been incarcerated for 19 days. Immigration officials cited O’Barry’s
trip to Futo on August 27, 2015 as the official reason for his deportation,
claiming he did not inform them of his travel plans.
On January 18, 2016, O’Barry was detained by Japanese immigration officials
at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. What started off as a “routine”
questioning turned into a repeated interrogation. He was placed in a
deportees’ facility, similar to a jail, where he was held for over three
days. When O’Barry later refused to board a flight that would take him back
to the United States, he was placed in a formal detention facility, where he
has been incarcerated ever since.
Last August, O’Barry, on his way to Taiji to mark the start of the
2015/16 dolphin hunting season, made a side trip to Futo in support of
former dolphin hunter Izumi Ishii’s whale watching tours. Despite not having
made these plans until after entering Japan, officials refused to change
their findings.
O’Barry’s deportation is cause for concern, especially for other activists,
including Dolphin Project Cove Monitors, who are committed to exposing
Taiji’s brutal drive hunts. His work methods have been 100% peaceful, yet
O’Barry has been treated like a criminal.
Dolphin Project’s legal team has already filed an objection. This is far
from over.
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