Japan has asked Denmark to extradite Paul Watson, a well-known American-Canadian environmental activist opposed to whaling who was arrested in Greenland on July 21 and is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Japanese authorities.
“The Justice Department received yesterday (Wednesday) from the Japanese authorities a formal extradition request concerning Paul Watson,” he said in a message to AFP.
Known for his violent raids on trawlers, Paul Watson, 73, was arrested on his ship, which had just docked in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, on July 21, to refuel in preparation for “intercepting” Japan’s new whaling factory ship in the North Pacific, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF) said in a statement.
He was remanded in custody until August 15, when the Greenland High Court will decide whether to extend his detention following an appeal by the activist and his lawyers.
In parallel, once the official documents have been received by the Danish Ministry of Justice from the Japanese authorities, the case will be handed over to the police in Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory, who will begin investigations to determine whether there are grounds for extradition – under Greenlandic law.
If so, the case will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for a final decision. It is also possible for the Danish Ministry to reject this extradition request ex officio, i.e. before passing the case on to the Greenlandic police.
“Revenge” against a man
“Japan has a personal grudge against Paul Watson and this so-called infraction is a pretext for revenge against a man who defied and thus humiliated them,” reacted Mr.e François Zimeray, one of Mr Watson’s lawyers, contacted by AFP.
“The challenge for the defense is now to show the Danish justice system that Japan is pursuing a logic of vengeance and not justice and that this country does not respect international standards on fair trials and prisons.”
In Japan, the activist faces a prison sentence of more than 15 years and a fine of up to 500,000 yen (more than 4,000 Canadian dollars).
The arrest of the “captain” gave rise to a large mobilization demanding his release.
His wife Yana Watson posted a photo of him with their two children on her Facebook account on Thursday, imploring the Queen and King of Denmark to “free Paul.”
“He has type 1 diabetes. Japanese prison will be deadly for him,” she pleaded. “He loves his children, his family and we love him and want him back. PLEASE.”
The president of the French branch of the NGO Sea Shepherd visited him in detention on Monday. “Paul is fine, his spirits are up. He has no regrets,” she reported on Tuesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office has asked Danish authorities not to extradite Mr Watson, who had been living in France for a year before his arrest.
A French online petition urging Mr Macron to demand the release of Paul Watson has gathered nearly 670,000 signatures in eight days. And an open letter was sent on July 24 by 68 French and European parliamentarians to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, urging her not to extradite the environmental activist.
Preventing an inhumane practice
Renowned primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall also called for his release, saying it was “simply an attempt to prevent the inhumane practice of killing whales, which has been banned by most countries for decades.”
The “Japanese government” […] “has triggered a global manhunt” against Paul Watson, said former French actress Brigitte Bardot.
The “sheriff of the seas”, founder of Sea Shepherd created in 1977 after a break with Greenpeace, is wanted by the Japanese authorities for having caused damage and injuries during two incidents which occurred in the Antarctic Ocean in 2010 against a Japanese whaling ship.