Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson launched in Greenland after 5 months

Anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson has been launched from jail in Greenland the place he spent 5 months in detention, after Denmark rejected an extradition request from Japan.

Mr Watson, 74, was arrested by police when his ship docked in Greenland’s capital Nuuk final July.

Police had adopted up on a 2012 Japanese arrest warrant that accused him of damaging a Japanese whaling ship, obstructing enterprise and injuring a crew member throughout an encounter in Antarctic waters in February 2010.

Mr. Watson, a Canadian-American citizen and current on the truth TV present Whale Wars, had denied any wrongdoing.

He advised the AFP information company after his launch that his time in jail had drawn consideration to “unlawful” whaling in Japan and had been “an extension” of his marketing campaign.

Whaling and the consumption of whale meat have been closely criticized by conservation teams, however Japanese authorities say it’s a part of the nation’s tradition and lifestyle.

The Danish Justice Ministry confirmed it will not grant Japan’s extradition request, basing its determination on “the character of the circumstances” in addition to the truth that the incident passed off 14 years in the past.

His lawyer, Julie Stage, advised the BBC that Mr Watson was “clearly relieved” and “trying ahead to being reunited along with his spouse and youngsters”.

As Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, the choice concerning his extradition was taken in Copenhagen. Though Japan and Denmark haven’t signed an extradition treaty, the Tokyo authorities had requested Denmark at hand it over.

Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard stated it was “of paramount significance” to make sure that the size of Mr Watson’s detention in Greenland was deducted from any jail sentence he might need confronted. late in Japan.

He added that the ministry had concluded “that it can’t be assumed with essential certainty that this would be the case” after correspondence with Japanese authorities.

Mr Watson’s ship, known as M/Y John Paul DeJoria, was heading to the North Pacific with a crew of 26 volunteers on board, aiming to intercept a brand new Japanese whaling ship when it docked to refuel in Nuuk on July 21.

At a earlier detention listening to, Mr Watson advised the court docket the case was about “revenge for a tv present that extraordinarily embarrassed Japan within the eyes of the world”.

For years he has been a controversial determine, recognized for his clashes with whaling ships at sea.

The activist is the previous director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which he left in 2022 to create the Captain Paul Watson Basis.

Japan withdrew from the Worldwide Whaling Fee and resumed industrial whaling in 2019, after a 30-year hiatus – though throughout that point it continued whaling for analysis functions, in line with him.