Denmark decided on Tuesday not to extradite environmental activist and whale defender Paul Watson to Japan, who will be released, his lawyer told AFP.
“He is free, the Ministry of Justice has just informed us that it has rejected the extradition request,” declared his lawyer, Me Julie Stage, specifying that Mr. Watson would be able to leave Nuuk prison in Greenland where he had been in pre-trial detention for almost five months.
The 74-year-old American-Canadian was arrested in Nuuk on July 21 after the revival of a request issued by Japan in 2012 via an Interpol red notice. He was then on his way with his ship the John Paul DeJoria to intercept a brand new Japanese whaling factory ship.
Japanese authorities accused him of being co-responsible for damage and injuries aboard a Japanese whaling ship in 2010 as part of a campaign led by Sea Shepherd.
Denmark based its refusal on “the total duration of the detention of Paul Franklin Watson after his arrest on July 21, 2024 and until a possible extradition order can be executed, and on (the) fact that the acts for which extradition is requested date back more than 14 years, as well as the nature of the acts in general,” according to the Danish decision consulted by AFP.
“Japan tried to silence a man whose only crime is to have denounced the illegality of the industrial massacre disguised as scientific research,” reacted to AFP another of its lawyers, Me François Zimeray.
Paul Watson “will be able to resume his action for respect for nature, which is also a fight for humanity and justice,” he added. “We are proud to have led this legal and political fight alongside his loved ones.”
