Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson kept in Greenland jail
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2024 8:21 pm
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson kept in Greenland jail
Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewlqp7q0rwo
A court in Greenland has ruled that anti-whaling activist Paul Watson must remain in custody pending a decision to extradite him to Japan.
The veteran campaigner, who has featured in the reality television show “Whale Wars”, was apprehended by police in July as his ship docked in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
They were acting on a 2012 Japanese warrant which accuses him of causing damage to a Japanese whaling ship, obstructing business and injuring a crew member during an encounter in Antarctic waters in February 2010.
Officials in Japan argue that whaling and eating whale meat is part of the country’s culture and way of life. However, it has been heavily criticised by conservation groups.
Dressed in jeans and a white shirt, Mr Watson sat beside his defence lawyers and listened to proceedings through an interpreter as several of his supporters looked on.
“This is about revenge for a television show that extremely embarrassed Japan in the eyes of the world,” he told the small courtroom.
“What happened in the Southern Ocean is documented by hundreds of hours of video,” Mr Watson said.
“I think a review of all the video and of all the documentation will exonerate me from the accusations.”
However the prosecution argued that the defendant was a flight risk, and the judge concluded he should remain in custody until 2 October.
Paul Watson is the former head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which he left in 2022 to set up the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
He was also a founding member of Greenpeace, but they parted ways in 1977, amid disagreements over his radical tactics.
Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewlqp7q0rwo
A court in Greenland has ruled that anti-whaling activist Paul Watson must remain in custody pending a decision to extradite him to Japan.
The veteran campaigner, who has featured in the reality television show “Whale Wars”, was apprehended by police in July as his ship docked in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
They were acting on a 2012 Japanese warrant which accuses him of causing damage to a Japanese whaling ship, obstructing business and injuring a crew member during an encounter in Antarctic waters in February 2010.
Officials in Japan argue that whaling and eating whale meat is part of the country’s culture and way of life. However, it has been heavily criticised by conservation groups.
Dressed in jeans and a white shirt, Mr Watson sat beside his defence lawyers and listened to proceedings through an interpreter as several of his supporters looked on.
“This is about revenge for a television show that extremely embarrassed Japan in the eyes of the world,” he told the small courtroom.
“What happened in the Southern Ocean is documented by hundreds of hours of video,” Mr Watson said.
“I think a review of all the video and of all the documentation will exonerate me from the accusations.”
However the prosecution argued that the defendant was a flight risk, and the judge concluded he should remain in custody until 2 October.
Paul Watson is the former head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which he left in 2022 to set up the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
He was also a founding member of Greenpeace, but they parted ways in 1977, amid disagreements over his radical tactics.