For the past six weeks, Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd NGO, has been waiting in a cell at the Nuuk prison, in Greenland, to learn his fate. On Wednesday, September 4, the local court is due to rule on whether he should remain in pre-trial detention – as already confirmed at a previous hearing on August 15 – or be released on parole. The Danish government – to which the territory of Greenland is attached – must also decide whether to grant Japan’s extradition request. No date has been announced for this political decision.
At the same time on Wednesday, a demonstration of supporters of the defender of cetaceans and marine fauna is scheduled for République square in Paris. Hervé Berville, the caretaker junior minister of the sea and biodiversity, has announced his attendance. This summer, the mobilization in support of the 73-year-old Canadian-American took many forms. Rallies were held in several cities in France, which had been his host country on several occasions. Figures such as naturalist Jane Goodall, star oceanographer Sylvia Earle, actor Pierce Brosnan, director James Cameron, filmmaker Ryan Killackey, Brigitte Bardot and President Emmanuel Macron have all publicly supported Watson. Over 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for his release.
On July 21, Watson was arrested and immediately handcuffed aboard his ship, the John-Paul-DeJoria-II, during a refueling stopover in the port of Greenland’s capital following an international arrest warrant issued for him by Tokyo, which requested his extradition 10 days later.
In fact, for years the Japanese industrial fishing industry has wanted to put a stop to the activities of this man, who has repeatedly put himself between whales and its harpoons. In Japan, the white-bearded activist is known as an “eco-terrorist,” having sunk two whaling ships – empty and docked – in Iceland in 1986. Such a long chase is inevitably reminiscent of Captain Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale, in Herman Melville’s novel. Clearly, whalers have long memories: The complaint against the activist relates to events that took place in the Antarctic Ocean in February 2010 and was forwarded to Interpol in 2012.
Red notice not deactivated
What is he accused of? “Watson is wanted by Japan for criminal prosecution on charges of ‘breaking and entering a vessel, damage to property, obstruction of activity imposed by force and assault and battery’ in connection with two attacks on Japanese whalers,” said the Interpol press office, contacted by The World. Recently, the red notice concerning him had disappeared from the International Criminal Police Organization’s website. This did not mean that it had been deactivated. “The majority of Red Notices are restricted to law enforcement use only,” said Interpol, pointing out that only about 10% of them are made public. In other words, legal proceedings don’t have to be known by law enforcement to be applied on the other side of the world, even if it relates to simple misdemeanors, which are, moreover, contested.
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