Paul Watson fighting efforts byJapan to have him stand trial there for 2010 confrontation with whalers
A Greenland court has ordered the anti-whaling activist Paul Watson to remain in custody until 5 September pending a decision on his possible extradition to Japan.
Watson, an American-Canadian who has been detained since his arrest in Nuuk in July, had appealed against the court’s decision, the statement on Thursday added.
“The court in Greenland has today decided that Paul Watson must continue to be detained until September 5, 2024, in order to ensure his presence in connection with a decision on the issue of extradition,” said the statement.
Watson, 73, is fighting efforts by Japan to have him extradited to stand trial there for a 2010 confrontation with Japanese whalers.
But Thursday’s Greenland police statement said the court had ruled that Watson must be held until 5 September “to ensure his presence in connection with a decision on the issue of extradition”.
Watson, who founded Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), is known for radical tactics, including confrontations with whaling ships at sea.
The campaigner was arrested on 21 July when his ship, MV John Paul DeJoria, docked to refuel in Nuuk, the capital of the autonomous Danish territory. The vessel was on its way to “intercept” a new Japanese whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the CPWF.
He was detained on the basis of a 2012 Interpol red notice after Japan accused him of causing damage to one of its whaling ships in the Antarctic two years earlier and causing injury.
In late July, Japan asked Denmark to extradite Watson. It has accused him of injuring a Japanese crew member with a stink bomb intended to disrupt the whalers’ activities in 2010.
His lawyers on Thursday argued that he was innocent and demanded his immediate release. They asked to present video evidence to the court of the 2010 incident, which they said showed the Japanese crew members were not on deck when the stink bomb was thrown.
But the head of Sea Shepherd France, Lamya Essemlali, who was present at the court hearing, told AFP: “The court refused to view the video evidence … which shows that the Japanese have fabricated evidence.”
She added that Watson had not been granted a translator during the hearing, which she said was a violation of Danish law. “We find this scandalous. It’s not normal, we didn’t understand anything,” she added.
