Denmark’s Ministry of Justice is expected to make a decision on the extradition of Canadian environmentalist Paul Watson to Japan in two weeks. On Monday the court in Nuuk, Greenland, decided that Watson will stay in prison until December 18.
Watson, who turned 74 on the day of his sixth hearing, was arrested by Danish authorities in July. He was refueling his ship in Nuuk. Watson was en route to the Pacific Ocean to confront a Japanese whaling vessel. Since then, Greenland, a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, has held him in custody while they review Japan’s request.
“I am in prison in Greenland. I’ve been in this prison since July 21st, 2024 — 134 days. I have not been charged with a crime. I am here on an extradition demand by the nation of Japan for a politically motivated false accusation for an alleged minor offense from 14 years ago,” Watson wrote in a letter shared on Wednesday on the social media accounts of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
Background on Paul Watson’s case
Watson is accused of boarding a Japanese whaling ship in 2010 without permission in an attempt to stop the illegal hunting of whales. He denies the charges. Supporters fear his possible extradition to Japan, where he could face harsh legal consequences.
Sea Shepherd, the organization Watson founded, has played a significant role in marine conservation. It reportedly saving over 6,000 whales from Japanese whalers. Despite global opposition, Japan, along with Norway and Iceland, continues commercial whaling.
“The real reason I am in this prison is because Japan wants to prevent me from opposing their ambitions to return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to continue the illegal slaughter of whales,” Watson said. “That has been illegal since 1986 with the International Whaling Commission’s Global Moratorium on Commercial Whaling and upheld by the International Court of Justice in the Hague in 2014.”
Interpol Red Notice
He also criticized the political abuse of the Interpol Red Notice – a request for law enforcement worldwide to locate a person.
“The Red Notice is meant for serious crimes. Like war crimes, serial killers, fugitives, murderers, or major drug traffickers,” Watson said. “I am the only person on record to have an Interpol Red Notice issued for conspiring to trespass on a whaling ship. Especially a whaling ship illegally killing whales where the evidence conclusively demonstrates that I never boarded a whaling ship. Nor was I part of any planning to board a whaling ship.”
“I am not surprised. For fifty years, I have opposed illegal whaling in the waters of the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Arctic, and the Southern Ocean. In so doing have confronted pirate whalers and whaling ships from Japan, the Soviet Union, Spain, South Africa, Norway, and Ecuador,” he added. “The campaigns have always been risky.”
“The reward has been the saving of the lives of tens of thousands of whales and dolphins. And the satisfaction of doing so without causing a single injury to a single person. It is a record of non-violence that I am immensely proud of.”
Calls for justice
Supporters of Watson have criticized his prolonged detention, calling it unjust. The Captain Paul Watson Foundation stated, “Paul Watson has dedicated his life to protecting our oceans and marine life. Now, he is being unjustly held without a fair hearing. We demand justice for Paul Watson and the integrity of the judicial process.”
The outcome of the extradition decision will determine whether Watson is sent to Japan to face trial.
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