the environmental activist says he is “happy and relieved to be able to find his children before Christmas”

The environmental activist who was detained in Denmark was released on Tuesday. A “nice surprise”, declared Paul Watson on France Inter.

Paul Watson says to himself “relieved to be able to find [ses] children before Christmas and talks about “nice surprise” Tuesday September 17 on France Inter. The founder of the NGO Sea Shepherd found his freedom on Tuesday after Denmark rejected Japan’s extradition request.

The environmental activist was unaware that this was the decision that was going to be made and had “prepared for the worst” while hoping “the best”. “In the end it went well, it took a while but everything ended well”declares Paul Watson, who is pleased that it has “allowed focus on Japan’s illegal whaling actions”.

Japan, which practices whaling despite the fact that it is illegal, has been pursuing Paul Watson since 2012, accusing him of damages and injuries during an action in 2010. Accusations that Paul Watson denies. The environmental activist is the subject of an Interpol red notice, an international wanted notice, which is still valid. He was finally arrested by Denmark last July while at sea in Greenland leading further action against Japanese whaling ships. Since then, he has been in pre-trial detention in Nuuk prison in Greenland.

Asked what he was going to do after the holidays, Paul Watson replied that he hoped to go to Lyon to “talk with Interpol”. He wishes “to settle” this story because the red notices “These are for war criminals, drug traffickers, no one has a red notice for what I did. So I have to take care of it”he explains.

At the same time, the activist intends to “continue to [s]‘oppose whaling’. “Our boats will return to sea” and he will too once he has checked with Interpol, he assures. The goal is to“stop more Japanese whalers”. Paul Watson plans to return to France “as soon as possible” but he doesn’t yet know when.