Paul Watson was released on Tuesday. Denmark has decided not to extradite the environmental activist and whale defender to Japan. “He is free, the Ministry of Justice has just informed us that it has rejected the extradition request,” said his lawyer, Me Julie Stage. Paul Watson was therefore able to leave Nuuk prison in Greenland where he had been in pre-trial detention for almost five months.
“My arrest has drawn the attention of the international community to the continuation of illegal whaling operations by Japan,” said Paul Watson in a video interview with AFP during which he said: very fit” for his first day of freedom.
“These five months were an extension of the campaign” against whaling, said the 74-year-old American-Canadian. He was arrested in Nuuk on July 21 after the relaunch 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.
“Japan tried to silence a man”
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 “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.
“Japan tried to silence a man whose only crime is to have denounced the illegality of the industrial massacre disguised as scientific research,” reacted 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.”
Related News :