Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty activist Dawn Hurst was sentenced to a three-year prison sentence that the judge in the case then suspended for five years.
Hurst, 31, is a British citizen who was convicted of stealing a dog and dozens of videotapes from research laboratories in Japan between 2001 and 2002.
Unfortunately, Judge Satoshi Shibayama apparently fell hook, line and sinker for Hurst’s repentance routine, explaining he suspended her sentence because she had sincerely repented of her crimes.
Hurst, of course, was only arrested because she travelled to Japan in April with other SHAC activists to protest at a pharmaceutical trade show being held there.
It’s amazing that they were able to convict Hurst at all since, according to statements at the time of her arrest by SHAC spokeswoman Heather James, Hurst never actually committed any crime,
Hundreds of animals are poisoned to death every day at Huntingdon Life Sciences on behalf of their Japanese customers. Dawn’s only alleged ‘crime’ is to expose this animal abuse while the real criminals such as Daiichi, CBC, Yamanouchi and Sumitomo continue to profit from the torture of animals at HLS. We demand her immediate release.
Sources:
UK shock tactics repel animal-rights activists in Japan. DAVID CYRANOSKI, Nature, 424, 119, July 10, 2003.
UK animal rights activist sentenced in Japan. China Daily, August 25, 2003.
Cops doggedly pursue animal activist. June 30, 2003.
SHAC Campaigner Arrested In Japan! Press Release, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, April 17, 2003.