Japan does not give up pursuing the defender of whales – Libération

Paul Watson not extradited, Paul Watson released: the Japanese government is having difficulty accepting this setback inflicted by the Danish Ministry of Justice and a Greenland judge who, after one hundred and forty-nine days of detention of the anti-whaling activist, did not respond to Japan’s request to transfer him to the archipelago. “It is regrettable that the Danish government did not accept our extradition request and we have made our reaction known to them. Japan will continue to properly handle this case based on evidence and the law.reacted during his press briefing Yoshimasa Hayashi, spokesperson for the Japanese government.

Hideki Tokoro, boss of the Kyodo Senpaku company, which owns and operates the main Japanese whaling fleet, is not upset either. “This decision surprised me. Frankly, Watson is guilty of crimes, what he did was attempted murder against our crews,” he comments to Liberation. “I want the Japanese government to seriously continue to demand his extradition wherever he goes, I want him to be arrested again. It would be unfortunate if the crimes he committed were taken lightly. We have collected the evidence”insists this boss, a leading figure in commercial cetacean fishing.

Officially, Japan accuses Paul Watson of complicity in obstructing the activities of Japanese whaling ships and of having ordered one of his accomplices, Captain Paul Béthune (tried and convicted in 2010 in Tokyo) to trespass on a boat and acid bottles being thrown at the Japanese crew. “We are not blaming Paul Watson for his anti-whaling views, but for breaking maritime law” and this requires a criminal response, insisted a few weeks ago the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Takeshi Iwaya. And to ensure that the Japanese government was working to convince both the authorities of Denmark and those of France of the merits of the extradition request, which was ultimately rejected.

Two million dollars

The gap between the charges, which appear weak and date back nearly fifteen years, and Japan’s stubbornness, suggests that there may be points of grievance and possible charges other than those briefly presented in the warrants. judgment transmitted to Interpol. Hideki Tokoro recalls that “American justice ordered Paul Watson to no longer approach Japanese ships and the latter agreed in 2016 to never again harass the Japanese fleet, in exchange for a sum of 2 million dollars”, paid by the Japanese side.

While the Japanese media have covered this Watson affair and its repercussions relatively little, the general Japanese public generally expresses little leniency towards the defender of whales, often described as a “terrorist” et “a crook whose actions aim to collect funds under the pretext of saving cetaceans”. Many do not understand why Western countries are so concerned about whales, which the Japanese authorities do not consider to be endangered species.