Greenland authorities have announced that the detention of environmentalist Paul Watson will be extended until December 4.
Environmental activist Paul Watson will remain in detention until December 4, the Greenlandic justice system decided this Wednesday, November 13, pending the decision of the Danish government on Japan's extradition request linked to its fight for whales.
“The Greenland court today decided that Paul Watson will be kept in detention until December 4, 2024 in order to ensure his presence in the extradition process,” police said in a statement specifying that, “for practical reasons”, the next hearing on his detention will be held on December 2.
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.
“Sentiment d’injustice”
It is in another case relating to whaling, dating back to 2010, that Japan requests his extradition.
The Nuuk court's decision, the fifth in this direction since the arrest of the Sea Shepherd founder, was expected. Paul Watson appealed to the Greenland Court of Appeal.
Previous pre-trial detention decisions are subject to a different appeal procedure, before the Supreme Court of Denmark.
“As time passes, the feeling of injustice grows more and more,” noted Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, before the hearing.
Awaiting decision from the Danish Ministry of Justice
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 examining the extradition request and the two recommendations, and it is on this basis that it will make a decision in this case,” he wrote to AFP.
If he were to refuse extradition, “there would no longer be any reason 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.
Accused of damage and injury on board a whaling ship
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 contacted the United Nations Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders, denouncing in particular the risk he faces of “suffering 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.
Paul Watson wants to return to France
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.
Japan is, along with Norway and Iceland, one of the last three countries in the world to practice commercial whaling.
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