Plan to sue French Govt

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32970, 17 July 1972, Page 1

Plan to sue French Govt

(New Zealand Press Associate

AUCKLAND, July 16. The New Zealand, Australian, and Canadian Governments may be asked to support a possible legal action against the French Government.

Weary after completing a maritime picket of the French nuclear testing area at Mururoa Atoll, crew members of the Greenpeace 111 returned to Rarotonga at the week-end. The men say that they were “rammed” by a French warship, and continually during the 30 days their yacht was hove to in the test area. They are now considering

legal action against the French Government. But in the meantime, the crew need $3OO for food, and for repairs to the yacht before returning to New Zealand. TELEPHONE CALL Sounding “tired and a bit edgy,” the skipper of the vessel, Mr D. McTaggart, telephoned the president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Mr R. J. Northey) in Auckland today.

Mr McTaggart, a Canadian, disputed the official French version of the “accidental collision” between his yacht and a French minesweeper, said Mr Northey. Crew members had photographs and documents which showed the harassment, and the warships responsible. “Once they get here, they are going to seek legal advice on what sort of action can be taken against the French Government. If we find there is a case, we will be asking the Canadian. Australian and New Zealand Gov. emments to support the case,” he added. Mr Northey said he thought that any damage to the yacht had been repaired by the French. TAMURE RETURNS Another protest yacht, the 37ft Tamure, returned to Auckland today after a day’s sailing which took it east of Cuvier Island, off the Coromandel Peninsula.

The skipper of the $20,000 vessel, Mr J. R. Sharp, of Epsom, said on his return that he had heard “expensive noises” coming from the spade rudder, and had decided to have it checked. At Westhaven today, the rudder was found to have a fault. The yacht is due to be slipped tonight, and should sail tomorrow. The yacht Magic Isle is still high and dry on a slipway at Whangarei but is expected to continue its voyage to the test zone about noon tomorrow.