Environmental activist Paul Watson will likely be detained till August 15, authorities and his basis introduced.
Veteran environmental and anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been arrested by Greenland police following a world arrest warrant issued by Japan.
Watson, a 73-year-old Canadian-American citizen, is the previous director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose direct motion techniques, together with high-seas confrontations with whaling ships, have garnered help from A-list celebrities and been featured on the fact TV sequence Whale Wars.
Japan, which says consuming whale meat is a part of its tradition, resumed business whaling in 2019 and has since modernized its fleet and expanded its catch record, prompting condemnation from conservationists who concern for the destiny of the massive marine mammals.
“The Japanese authorities have issued a world arrest warrant for Paul Watson, which is why the Greenland police have been ready to arrest him upon arrival in Nuuk,” the Greenland police company mentioned in a press release on Monday.
Following his arrest, Watson appeared earlier than a district courtroom for consideration of a request for detention pending a call on his potential extradition to Japan, the assertion added.
On Monday, the Captain Paul Watson Basis instructed the Related Press that the veteran environmentalist could be held in Nuuk till not less than Aug. 15, following the courtroom’s resolution, to provide the Danish Justice Ministry time to analyze the case and a potential extradition.
He faces a most sentence of 15 years in jail in Japan, in keeping with the inspiration, which additionally mentioned the Greenland courtroom wouldn’t permit Watson to be launched on bail as a result of he was thought of a flight threat.
“We implore the Danish authorities to launch Captain Watson and never settle for this politically motivated request,” Locky MacLean, director of the inspiration, mentioned within the assertion.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Japan doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the European nation and it isn’t identified if or when Watson will likely be handed over.
Neither the Japan Coast Guard nor the Japanese International Ministry, which had issued the worldwide warrant for Watson, confirmed they have been negotiating Watson’s handover.
Nevertheless, the coast guard, the lead investigating authority within the Watson case in Japan, mentioned Monday that officers have been on standby if a give up was ordered.
This isn’t the primary time that Watson’s techniques have led him into battle with the authorities.
He was arrested in Germany in 2012 on an extradition warrant from Costa Rica however skipped bail after studying he was additionally wished by Japan, which has accused him of endangering the lives of whalers throughout operations within the Southern Ocean.
Since then, Watson has lived in international locations reminiscent of France and america.
