Environmentalist Paul Watson has been detained till August 15, authorities and his basis mentioned.
Veteran environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson has been apprehended by Greenland police following a world arrest warrant issued by Japan.
Watson, a 73-year-old Canadian-American citizen, is the previous head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society whose direct-action ways, together with high-seas confrontations with whaling vessels, have drawn assist from A-list celebrities and been featured within the actuality tv collection referred to as Whale Wars.
Japan, which says consuming whale meat is a part of its tradition, resumed business whaling in 2019 and has since modernised its fleet and expanded its catch checklist, drawing condemnation from conservationists who concern for the destiny of the massive ocean mammals.
“The Japanese authorities have issued a world arrest warrant for Paul Watson, which is the explanation why the Greenland Police have been able to arrest him on arrival in Nuuk,” Greenland’s regulation enforcement company mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
After his arrest, Watson appeared earlier than a district court docket to look right into a request to detain him pending a call on his attainable extradition to Japan, the assertion added.
On Monday, the Captain Paul Watson Basis informed the Related Press that the veteran environmentalist can be detained in Nuuk at the very least till August 15, following the court docket’s resolution, to provide the Danish Ministry of Justice time to analyze the case and attainable extradition.
He faces a most sentence of 15 years in jail in Japan, in accordance with the muse, which additionally mentioned the Greenland court docket wouldn’t permit Watson’s launch on bail as he was thought-about a flight danger.
“We implore the Danish authorities to launch Captain Watson and never entertain this politically-motivated request,” Locky MacLean, the muse director, mentioned within the assertion.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Japan doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the European nation and it’s unknown if or when Watson can be handed over.
Neither the Japan Coast Guard nor Japan’s International Ministry, which had issued the worldwide warrant for Watson, confirmed they have been negotiating Watson’s handover.
Nevertheless, the coast guard, the first investigative authority in Watson’s case in Japan, mentioned on Monday that officers have been on standby if a handover is ordered.
It’s not the primary time Watson’s ways have introduced him head-to-head with authorities.
He was detained in Germany in 2012 on a Costa Rican extradition warrant, however skipped bail after studying that he was additionally looked for extradition by Japan, which has accused him of endangering whalers’ lives throughout operations within the Antarctic Ocean.
Watson has since lived in international locations, together with France and the USA.
