Society

Paul Watson won't be extradited to Japan. Denmark, which had been holding him in Greenland for 149 days, has decided to release him. The whale defender will join his family in France. Before continuing the fight.

With his long white hair and beard, Paul Watson is a sailor with a pirate's touch, determined to prevent Japan from hunting cetaceans. With his supporters, he has attacked whalers with Sea Shepherd ships and his own boat, the John Paul De Joria. In 2010, he rammed the factory ship Shonan Maru 2. The Japanese authorities have since accused him of “conspiracy to board” with injury and “damaging private property”. During a trip to Greenland, he was arrested on July 21, 2024 on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice issued by Japan in 2012. The purpose of the trip was to intercept the Kangei Maru, a brand-new whaler.

The fight goes on

From the prison in Nuuk, the capital of the Arctic island, he awaited the decisions of the Danish justice system, with the risk of extradition to Japan. Finally, due to the statute of limitations, the Danish courts released the 74-year-old American-Canadian activist. His arrest focused public opinion on the fight against whaling. In itself, it served his cause. He will be rejoining his family in France, before setting sail again on the seas and oceans to give whalers a hard time “for the respect of nature, which is also a fight for humanity and justice”, according to his lawyer, François Zimeray. He added: “Japan has tried to silence a man whose only crime is to have denounced the illegality of an industrial massacre masquerading as scientific research.”

(MH with Olivier Duquesne - Source: Le Soir with AFP - Picture: © picture alliance/dpa/MAXPPP | Thomas Padilla)