For six weeks, Captain Paul Watson, the founder of the NGO Sea Shepherd, has been waiting in a cell in the Nuuk penitentiary centre in Greenland to find out his fate. On Wednesday 4 September, the city court must decide whether to keep him in pre-trial detention, already confirmed at a previous hearing on 15 August, or to grant him conditional release. The Danish government – to which the territory of Greenland is attached – must also whether he will grant Japan’s extradition request. A political decision for which no date has been announced.
At the same time, on Wednesday, a rally of supporters of the defender of cetaceans and marine fauna is planned for Place de la République in Paris. Hervé Berville, the resigning Secretary of State for the Sea and Biodiversity, has notably announced his presence. This summer, The mobilization in support of the 73-year-old Canadian-American took many forms. Rallies were held in several cities in France, his host country on several occasions. Personalities such as naturalist Jane Goodall, star oceanographer Sylvia Earle, actor Pierce Brosnan, director James Cameron, Brigitte Bardot and President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in his favor. More than 100,000 people signed a petition demanding his release.
On July 21, Paul Watson was arrested aboard his ship, the John-Paul-DeJoria-IIduring a stopover in the port of the capital of Greenland to refuel. He was arrested and immediately handcuffed because of an international arrest warrant issued against him by Tokyo, which requested his extradition ten days later.
In fact, for years the Japanese industrial fishing industry has been trying to put an end to the activities of the man who has repeatedly come between whales and its harpoons. In the Archipelago, the white-bearded activist is referred to as a“ecoterrorist”who does not hide the fact that in 1986 he sank two whaling ships – empty and docked – in Iceland. Such a long hunt inevitably brings to mind that of Captain Ahab on the trail 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 occurred in the Southern Ocean in February 2010 and was forwarded to Interpol in 2012.
Red notice not deactivated
What is he accused of? “Mr. Watson is wanted by Japan for criminal prosecution for ‘breaking and entering a vessel, causing damage to property, obstructing a business by force and assault and battery’ in connection with two attacks on Japanese whaling ships.”indicates the Interpol press office contacted by The World. Recently, the red notice for him had disappeared from the International Criminal Police Organization website. This did not mean that it was deactivated. “Most Red Notices are for the exclusive use of law enforcement agencies,” explains Interpol, specifying that only about 10% of them are made public. In other words, there is no need for a procedure to be known to be applied on the other side of the world, even if it involves simple offences, which are also contested.
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