Friday, November 22, 2024

Environmentalist Paul Watson arrested in Greenland, faces extradition to Japan

Dominica Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd – one of the most prominent and important anti-whaling organizations – He has been arrested. In Nuuk, Greenland, where his boat had just docked for fuel, Watson was on his way to the North Pacific, where Sea Shepherd intended to disrupt the activities of a new Japanese vessel that had been operating in those waters since May, slaughtering whale meat caught by other, smaller vessels. In the video Posted on social media by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), we see Watson being handcuffed on his boat by Danish police (Greenland has been an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1814).

The Foundation believes that the activist was arrested because: red notice To Interpol, any request to locate, arrest and extradite a criminal suspect aside From the judicial authorities of the state. In this case by Japan. “There is red notice She disappeared [dal database] A few months ago. We were surprised, because it could have meant withdrawing it or keeping it secret. We now know that it was secret to give Paul a false sense of security.” He said The basis for the statement. The Japanese government did not comment on the news on Monday, but a spokeswoman confirmed the announcement. France Press agency The Japanese Coast Guard was aware of Watson's arrest, and he now faces extradition to Japan.

This is not the first time Watson has been arrested for his activities. The Japanese ship he wanted to intercept, the Kanji Maru, had 40 freezers, each of which could hold 15 tons of whale meat. Japan resumed commercial whaling in 2019 after a 33-year hiatus, despite declining consumption. Commercial whaling actually ceased in 1986, following a moratorium imposed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the international body that regulates whale hunting worldwide. Japan continued the practice, claiming it was for “scientific research purposes,” before withdrawing from the international whaling ban.

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– Read also: Japan has a new large whaling ship

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