The 73-year-old American-Canadian activist, who recently applied for French nationality, was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, capital of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. He was en route with his ship the John Paul DeJoria to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory ship. It is in another case relating to whaling, dating back to 2010, that Japan requests his extradition.
Sentiment d’injustice
Mr. Watson's counsel expects on Wednesday that the court will again go in the direction of the prosecution and maintain detention, in the absence of a rapid decision from Denmark, which has the final say on the request for Japanese extradition.
“We don't expect the Greenland court to change direction,” said one of Paul Watson's lawyers, Julie Stage, who, along with her colleagues, appealed previous pretrial detention decisions to the court. Supreme Court of Denmark.
“As time goes by, the feeling of injustice grows more and more,” noted Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France. “In ten days, it will be four months since he was imprisoned, which corresponds to the maximum length of his sentence, had he been convicted.”
Deadline unknown
The Danish Ministry of Justice, which recently received opinions from the Greenland police and the Directorate General of the Prosecutor's Office on the extradition request, did not indicate when it would issue its decision. “The Ministry of Justice is currently reviewing the extradition request and the two recommendations, and it is on this basis that it will make a decision in this case.”
If he were to refuse extradition, “there would no longer be grounds for detention and (Paul Watson) would be released as soon as possible after this decision is brought to the attention of the Greenlandic police,” explained the prosecutor. in charge of the file.
Otherwise, his defenders would appeal.
Damage and injuries
Founder of Sea Shepherd and the foundation for the oceans that bears his name, Paul Watson is a personality known for his punchy actions.
Japan, which relaunched a request issued in 2012 via an Interpol red notice, accuses it of being co-responsible for damage and injuries on board a Japanese whaling ship two years earlier as part of a campaign led by Sea Shepherd.
In detail, the activist is being prosecuted for injuries which, according to the prosecution, were inflicted on February 11, 2010 on a sailor from the Shonan Maru 2 by a powerful stink ball containing butyric acid, and for the collision of the same ship four days later. In mid-September, his lawyers appealed to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders, denouncing in particular the risk he faces of “being subjected to inhumane treatment.” […] in Japanese jails.
According to them, this offense is not punishable by prison under Greenlandic law, which the Nuuk public prosecutor's office disputes.
International mobilization
In a rare comment on this affair, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya estimated in early October that his country's extradition request was a matter of “law enforcement” rather than whaling.
Paul Watson hopes to return to France, where he has lived since July 2023 and where his young children go to school.
His setbacks aroused the support of part of public opinion and other activists. British primatologist Jane Goodall called on the French president to grant asylum to the American-Canadian.
