XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.homosexuality, rec.arts.tv   
   XPost: nz.soc.queer   
   From: gay@sissy.bho.com   
      
   "Xena: Warrior Princess" actress Lucy Lawless says she has "no   
   regrets" about boarding and preventing an oil-drilling ship from   
   leaving a New Zealand dock, a protest action that saw her plead   
   guilty on Thursday to trespass charges.   
      
   "For the first time in my life, I put my body and reputation on   
   the line to stand up for my beliefs and do the right thing," she   
   said in an interview with The Associated Press after her   
   appearance in court. "I hope I've encouraged other people to do   
   the same."   
      
   In February, the 44-year-old native New Zealander and six other   
   Greenpeace activists climbed a drilling tower on the vessel   
   Noble Discoverer, which was docked in New Zealand bound for the   
   Arctic, to protest oil exploration in the Arctic. Lawless spent   
   four days atop the 174-foot (53-meter) tower, camping and   
   blogging about her experiences.   
      
   She and seven other Greenpeace activists — including one who'd   
   helped from the ground — pleaded guilty at Auckland District   
   Court to charges of unlawfully being on a ship. She is due to be   
   sentenced in September and faces a maximum three years in jail   
   after prosecutors reduced a more serious charge of burglary.   
      
   Oil company Shell, which was chartering the ship, has condemned   
   the protest, saying it needlessly put people in danger.   
      
   Lawless that she felt she had little choice but to participate   
   in the protest because of the damage oil companies are doing to   
   the environment.   
      
   She said she doesn't expect to receive a jail sentence for her   
   actions because she is a first-time offender and the protest was   
   peaceful. She is concerned, however, that a conviction could   
   impede her acting career if some countries choose to prevent her   
   from entering as a result.   
      
   "If I couldn't travel, obviously that would be a tremendous pain   
   in the neck," she said.   
      
   Lawless is best known for her title role in the TV series "Xena:   
   Warrior Princess," and more recently for starring in the Starz   
   cable television series "Spartacus." Her role in Spartacus ended   
   last season, she said, and she's now working on several other   
   projects.   
      
   Lawless said she intends for now to keep up her involvement with   
   Greenpeace.   
      
   "But I've got no plans to jump on an oil rig again any time   
   soon," she added.   
      
   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-   
   bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa   
   %2F2012%2F06%2F13%2Finternational%2Fi163508D56.DTL   
      
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