BERLIN (AP) — Greenland police on Sunday arrested a prominent environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner on an international arrest warrant issued by Japan.
Paul Watson was arrested when his ship docked in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, police said in a statement. He will appear in court.
He will be brought before a district court with a request to detain him until a decision is made on his extradition to Japan, the statement said.
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation said police boarded the ship and led Watson away in handcuffs when it stopped to refuel. The foundation said the ship, along with 25 crew members, was en route to the North West Passage on a mission to intercept a new Japanese whaling ship in the North Pacific.
“The arrest is believed to be related to a previous Red Notice issued for Captain Watson’s previous anti-whaling interventions in the Antarctic region,” the foundation said in an emailed statement.
“We implore the Danish government to release Captain Watson and not grant this politically motivated request,” Locky MacLean, the foundation’s director, said in the statement.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Watson, a Canadian-American citizen, is a former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society whose direct action tactics, including high-seas confrontations with whalers, have attracted support from A-list celebrities and been featured in the reality TV series “Whale Wars.”
Japan has accused Watson and Sea Shepherd of endangering the lives of whalers during operations in the Antarctic Ocean. Authorities in Costa Rica have also requested his extradition.
