Whaling opponent Paul Watson released after 149 days

The fight between the whaling nation and the anti-whaling people has come to a temporary end: the well-known whaling opponent and environmental activist Paul Watson is released after 149 days in custody in Greenland.

The 74-year-old was arrested in July this year on an international arrest warrant from Japan in the Greenland capital Nuuk after he arrived at the port there on the ship “John Paul DeJoria”.

Japan accuses Watson of damaging a whaling ship in Antarctica in 2010 and hindering whalers.

Watson’s time in Greenland custody was extended several times, while it remained unclear whether he would be extradited to Japan.

Now it has decided that the Canadian-American activist should be released and not extradited to the whaling nation of Japan. According to the Greenland police, Watson was released in the morning (local time) following the ministry’s decision.

According to Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, one reason for the decision was that Japan could not guarantee that Watson’s time in Greenland custody would count towards a possible prison sentence.

Greenland is largely autonomous, but is officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark. The final decision on extradition rested with the Danish Ministry of Justice.

Watson can now travel to his family in France, a lawyer for the activist, Julie Stage, told the Danish news agency Ritzau. This ends the months-long struggle for his extradition shortly before Christmas.

“I’m very relieved. This means I can see my children at Christmas. I haven’t seen them since June,” the activist told the Danish television station.

His release came as a surprise to him. “I had no idea. You prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” he continued. He is certain that if he had been extradited to Japan, he would never have returned home.

Watson is one of the most famous whale protectors. He was once one of the first members of Greenpeace and later founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Given his confrontational methods in protecting marine mammals, some environmentalists consider him a hero, while others consider him too radical. With his actions, he also alienated various whaling nations – especially Japan.

Watson denied guilt. His lawyers complained that the allegations were just a pretext to take action against him for publicizing Japan’s violations of agreements to protect whales. There were several international calls and demonstrations for his release.

“We document everything and everything is recorded on video. They (the Danish authorities, editor’s note) only had to look at the footage to see that the allegations were false,” Watson told TV2.

He was therefore surprised at how long it took the Danish authorities to process Japan’s application.

“All the evidence was there. But I’m sure Japan put a lot of pressure on Denmark,” said the anti-whaling activist.

But Watson has no regrets about his 149 days in custody, as he told TV2. On the contrary. “Sometimes you need prison to get your message across.”

Sources: DPA news agency, .