For the third time since his arrest at the end of July in Nuuk, capital of the autonomous Danish territory, “the public prosecutor requested an extension of the detention period”wrote to AFP the prosecutor in charge of the case, Mariam Khalil.
The defenders of the 73-year-old American-Canadian activist regretfully believe that justice will go in the direction of the prosecution, in the absence of a rapid decision from Denmark on the extradition request.
“I still think he should be released”his lawyer Julie Stage told AFP. “Ultimately, the question of proportionality (of pre-trial detention in relation to the crime) will be a problem”.
However, the hearing, scheduled to last an hour and a half, “risks being an encore repeat of the last two hearings in Nuuk, a parody of justice”denounces the president of Sea Shepherd France, Lamya Essemlali.
Founder of Sea Shepherd and the ocean foundation that bears his name, Paul Watson was arrested on July 21 while en route with his ship the John Paul DeJoria to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory ship.
Japan is demanding his extradition, having relaunched a request issued in 2012 via an Interpol red notice. He accuses him of being co-responsible for damage and injuries aboard a Japanese whaling ship two years earlier as part of a campaign led by Sea Shepherd.
In mid-September, the septuagenarian activist’s lawyers contacted the United Nations Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders, denouncing in particular the risk he runs of “to undergo inhumane treatment (…) in Japanese jails”.
According to them, the Japanese request is based on assertions “fallacious”which they would like to demonstrate by presenting to the Nuuk court video extracts of the events, filmed by the Discovery channel, a request which was refused to them during the last two hearings.
Furthermore, according to them, this offense is not punishable by prison under Greenlandic law.
“Slow process”
Beyond the question of continued detention, the lawyers are hanging on the decision of the Danish Ministry of Justice to decide whether or not to extradite Paul Watson. The ministry told AFP that the examination of the official extradition request was ” in progress “without giving a timetable.
“The process is slow. The Greenlandic police are carrying out their investigation which they must transmit to the Attorney General who must make his recommendations to the minister”explains Ms. Stage.
“We want the Danish minister to finally make a decision. At the moment, they are letting him languish in prison, it’s frankly problematic”storm Mrs. Essemlali.
According to her, the conditions of the activist’s pre-trial detention have recently become tougher.
“They practically cut off all contact with the outside world. He is only allowed 10 minutes of telephone time per week with his wife”she said.
A controversial personality in the environmentalist community, particularly because of his muscular methods, the activist obtained the signatures of 100,000 people on the petition requesting his release. On the political level, Paris asked Copenhagen not to extradite him.
From his cell in Nuuk Prison, a modern gray building located on the side of rocks, Paul Watson displays his determination to continue his fight.
“If they imagine that this will prevent our opposition! I only changed ships, and my current ship is ‘Prison Nuuk'”he declared at the end of August in an interview with AFP. The Japanese “want to use me as an example to show that their whaling should not be touched.”
