BERLIN (AP) — A Greenland court ruled Thursday that the veteran environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson must remain in custody while authorities consider Japan’s request for his extradition, police said.
The court ordered Watson to remain in custody until September 5 to ensure his presence for an extradition decision, Greenland police said in a statement. Watson has also appealed the decision to Greenland’s Supreme Court.
Watson, a 73-year-old 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.”
He was arrested last month on an international warrant issued by Japan when his ship docked in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The Japanese government at the time the Danish authorities asked to extradite Watson to be tried in Japan. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
The Japanese Coast Guard attempted to arrest him after he encountered a Japanese whale research vessel in 2010. He was accused of obstructing the crew in their official duties by ordering the captain of his ship to throw explosives at the whaling ship.
The Japanese government claims that whale meat is part of Japanese food culture and supports the sustainable use of whales. Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2019 and has since resumption of commercial whaling within its exclusive economic zone.
Watson, who left Sea Shepherd in 2022 to form his own organization, was also a leading member of Greenpeace but left in 1977 over disagreements over its aggressive tactics.
