GREENPEACE CAPTAIN IN COURT FOLLOWING BP STENA DEE OCCUPATION

GREENPEACE CAPTAIN IN COURT FOLLOWING BP STENA DEE OCCUPATION 22 August 1997 Captain Jon Castle, a veteran Greenpeace campaigner, is in court today facing charges relating to the BP Stena Dee occupation in the Atlantic Frontier - the protest that led to BP's newly-abandoned Ł1.4m claim for damages from Greenpeace UK. Jon Castle will appear at the Edinburgh Court of Session, High Street, Edinburgh at 2pm today charged with breaches of interdicts (Scottish injunctions). One relates to an order granted against him in his capacity as Captain of MV Greenpeace preventing him and all others acting under his authority from disrupting the towing operation of the Stena Dee or allowing the transport of people or equipment to the oil drilling platform. The 11 August interdict also ordered the removal all persons deployed from the MV Greenpeace on board the platform. It is also alleged that another order granted on the 14 August required Jon Castle to provide to BP/Britoil the names of persons on board the MV Greenpeace. "Greenpeace and the world owe Jon a great debt," said Chris Rose, Deputy Executive Director of Greenpeace UK. " Jon has been with Greenpeace since 1978. He has a rare integrity, feels deeply for human beings and nature, and acts on his beliefs. Jon stands up to be counted - he is an inspiration to Greenpeace." "Jon has been at sea for months on end working on the Atlantic Frontier campaign," said Rose, " where we are drawing attention to the irresponsibility of oil companies searching for new oil when the climate is already at risk from known reserves." Jon Castle, aged 47, from Guernsey, has sailed with Greenpeace on the Cedar Lee, MV Greenpeace, the original Rainbow Warrior, the Moby Dick, Sirius and the Altair. Among the many campaigns he has been involved in, the most famous are: the Brent Spar, Moruroa, Whaling, Nuclear Dumping, Chemical Pollution and Incineration. "I have been a sea-man all my life," said Jon. "I started knocking around on boats as a youngster in Guernsey and later joined the Merchant Navy." "I don't think of myself as a professional activist. I am just a normal member of the public who feels strongly about the environment," said Castle. " Things are increasingly materialistic - we need to get back to a more spiritual way of being instead of purely money-led. We are straying away from nature. We are not respecting it." " It is pretty amazing working with Greenpeace. I'm pretty happy. Greenpeace does achieve a few things." FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Greenpeace Press Office on +44 (0)171-865 8255/6/7/8