Keystone-SDA
“We are going to put an end to whale hunting in the world, one way or another,” declared Saturday Paul Watson during a press briefing at Place de la République in Paris, a few days after having found freedom.
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December 21, 2024 – 3:46 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) “We will continue our missions. We will oppose Iceland's whaling and, if Japan tries to return to the Antarctic whaling sanctuary, we will be there,” he told the media on the sidelines of an event organized at Place de la République. to celebrate his release.
“We are going to end global whaling, one way or another. We must learn to live in harmony with all the species that share the world with us,” said the 74-year-old American-Canadian activist.
Detained in Greenland for five months
An international figure in the defense of whales, he had been detained in Greenland for five months, before Denmark rejected an extradition request from Japan.
He arrived Friday afternoon in France, where his family lives and where his arrest had sparked an outpouring of solidarity. He said on Saturday he was eager to “spend Christmas with his children” and to see his grandchildren for the first time in six months.
“It’s my priority, but we will return to sea,” he promised. The Sea Shepherd association “has a boat in Bermuda, which will go to Iceland next June. We also have a boat in Australia ready to return to the Antarctic sanctuary if Japan goes.”
For her part, the president of Sea Shepherd France Lamya Essemlali, present alongside him during the press briefing, specified that Mr. Watson “received more than 4,000 letters in prison, including more than 3,000 from France.” “There have been more letters of support from Japanese citizens than from Australian citizens,” she also declared, indicating that “less than 2% of Japanese eat whale meat” and that the association “does not has nothing against the Japanese people.
Asked about a possible message to the Japanese government, Mr. Watson replied that the country must “obey international laws. Killing whales in an international whaling sanctuary is illegal. (…) We are not protesting against Japan’s whaling. We simply ask that (this country) respects the law.”
