A tarpaulin in support of the founder of Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson, was installed on Lyon City Hall. (@GrégoryDoucet/X)
Environmental activist Paul Watson, detained in Denmark since this summer, was released this Tuesday, December 17. The defender of whales has announced his intention to come to Lyon in the coming weeks.
Just released from prison, Paul Watson aims to go to Lyon to continue his fight. The environmental activist had been detained since July 21 in Denmark after being arrested in Greenland. The one who risked being extradited to Japan finally found freedom this Tuesday, December 17.
In an interview given to several of our colleagues, including Libération and France Inter, the Canadian activist explained that his next objective would be to go to Lyon. But someone who lives with his wife and children in France does not plan to come between Rhône and Saône to visit the city. He wants to go to Lyon to “chat with Interpol“.
He wants to challenge his red notice
The protector of cetaceans, founder of Sea Shepherd, an ocean defense NGO, intends to challenge the red notice issued by the international police which has its headquarters in Lyon. “Red notices are for war criminals, drug traffickers, no one has a red notice for what I did. So I have to take care of it.”he explains to our colleagues.
Paul Watson risked being sent to Japan to be tried after a collision in January 2010 between a Japanese whaling ship and the trimaran of the NGO Sea Shepherd. But Japan, which had issued an international arrest warrant, was not prepared to reduce the length of his prison sentence by five months to take into account his detention in Greenland. A measure contrary to European law and which allowed the activist to obtain his non-extradition.
