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Representatives of the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd group say they have been denied access to the last day of hearings in Australia's case against Japan at the International Court of Justice.
Japan used its last oral arguments to try to convince the judges on the UN's highest court that they lacked the jurisdiction to rule on the whaling dispute.
The head of Sea Shepherd Netherlands, Geert Vons, says he was blocked from entering the court during the last two days of Japan's arguments.
"I think it's not the court themselves that had problems with members, representatives of Sea Shepherd getting in, I am sure it has to do something with pressure from Japan," he said.
"It doesn't make sense otherwise. Why would we be allowed all the previous days and not the last two days?"
Australia launched the legal action in 2010, claiming that Japan's so-called research-based whaling program is a parody of science driven by commercial considerations.
Japan and Australia have both previously said they will accept the ruling of the International Court of Justice.
But in its closing arguments, Japan raised the prospect of leaving the International Whaling Commission if the court case does not go in its favour.
Deputy foreign minister Koji Tsuruoka said Japan placed great importance on the rule of law and stable multilateral agreements, but only up to a point.
"What will happen to stable multi-lateral frameworks when one morning suddenly you find your state bound by a policy of the majority and the only way out is to leave such an organisation?" he asked.
Topics: world-politics, international-law, law-crime-and-justice, whaling, conservation, environment, netherlands, australia, japan
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-17/sea-shepherd-barred-from-whaling-forum/4824642
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