Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson will not be extradited to face Japanese charges
Denmark has rejected a Japanese request to extradite anti-whaling activist Paul Watson over criminal charges that date back more than a decade, a Danish lawyer representing Watson said on Tuesday.
Watson, 74, a US-Canadian and founder of the conservation group Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, has now been released from custody in the Greenland capital Nuuk, Greenland police said.
Watson was arrested when his ship docked in the Danish autonomous region in July.
“Paul is free!!!,” wrote Sea Shepherd France on the social media platform X.
Denmark’s Justice Ministry, which is tasked with processing the extradition request, declined to immediately comment but said it would issue a statement later on Tuesday.
Charges related to the 2010 incident
Japan had issued an international arrest warrant for Watson and charged him with breaking into a Japanese ship in the Antarctic Ocean in 2010, obstructing business operations and causing personal injury and property damage.
Watson denied the allegations against him. His lawyers said the Japanese justice system could not be trusted to give the activist a fair trial and that Denmark should reject the extradition request.
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Supporters of Watson had launched a campaign for his release, winning the support of politicians and celebrities including French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Bardot and Irish actor Pierce Brosnan.
According to the Danish Ministry of Justice, France, where Watson has lived since 2023, has also discussed Watson’s case at ministerial level.
A spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Copenhagen declined to comment.
Watson left Sea Shepherd in 2022 to start his own organization. He was also a leading member of Greenpeace before leaving in 1977 due to disagreements over tactics.
