DENMARK EXTENDS PAUL WATSON DETENTION DESPITE MOUNTING GLOBAL PRESSURE

Today, a judge in Greenland ruled to prolong Captain Paul Watson’s detention, extending his remand until a court session on October 2nd, making this Watson’s third hearing since being arrested on July 21st from on board his 72 meter ship, the JOHN PAUL DE JORIA while en route through the Arctic to stop Japan’s new factory ship, the Kangei Maru, from hunting endangered Fin Whales. Despite the setback, Watson’s defense team has vowed to lodge an appeal against the decision.

Jonas Christofferson, lawyer for Watson, stated outside the police station in Nuuk after the hearing today: “The side where the Japanese sailor was supposed to be, he was not there, so they didn’t get injured by a stink bomb, it didn’t happen…The other two allegations [cutting a net and trespass] would be a fine under Japanese and Greenlandic law, and you cannot detain for a charge that would be a fine, so there is no case.” Japan initially issued a request for Paul Watson’s arrest in 2012 as an Interpol red notice, which had expired twice since being issued, before making a direct request to Denmark this June. The warrant accuses Watson of injuring a crew member with a non-lethal stink bomb, causing damage to a Japanese whaling vessel and trespassing in 2010 during an anti-whaling operation in Antarctica.

Japan has formally requested Watson’s extradition to face trial. While the prosecution was able to show a 4 and a half minute video from the Japanese side, the evidence which would exonerate Watson, according to he and his legal team, also extensive video footage shot from a helicopter and rubber dinghy during the allegations, was not allowed to be presented in court today for the second time since his arrest. Making a statement inside the court today, Captain Watson remains resolute. “If they let us show our evidence, there would be no case…for 50 years my greatest tool has been the camera and my accusers have been found to break international laws and Australian laws…lt was Japan that was the aggressor, have faster vessels and could get out of the way or choose to ram and this is all about revenge for the TV show Whale Wars.”

Less than 10 days after Paul Watson’s arrest, Japan added 59 Fin whales to its summer kill list and has begun harvesting the endangered animals in the North Pacific, confirming suspicions that the arrest had ulterior motives. Watson and his legal team argue that the charges are politically motivated, intended to silence his activism and send a chilling message to others who dare to challenge Japan’s whaling activities.

“They want to set an example that you don’t mess around with their whaling” Watson stated. Watson is no stranger to controversy for his direct-action tactics, which have included high-seas confrontations with whaling fleets. Watson, a co-founder of Greenpeace and founder of Seashepherd, was ousted from the group he started and has since founded the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF) in 2022 with branches in the US, UK (formerly SS UK), Germany and Australia to continue with his direct action philosophy of nonviolent direct action to protect whales from illegal hunting. (SS France and Brazil also continue to work with Watson) Watson’s life’s work was brought into the public eye through the acclaimed reality TV series Whale Wars, where viewers saw first-hand his relentless pursuit of justice for the oceans.

Australia took Japan to the International Court of Justice in the Hague for illegally whaling in Antarctica in 2010 after fining Japan 1 million dollars for their illegal activities via the Australia Court system. In 2012 New Zealand joined the case against Japan and in 2014 the ICJ found Japanese whaling in Antarctica to be illegal, proving Watson had been upholding International law while defending whales inside a recognized Sanctuary.