A Greenland court on Wednesday extended the detention of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson for three more weeks, pending a decision on his extradition to Japan, where he is wanted over a clash with whalers.
For the third time since the 73-year-old US-Canadian campaigner’s arrest in late July in Nuuk, the capital of the Danish autonomous territory, prosecutors had asked that Watson’s detention be extended, as the legal review of Japan’s extradition request drags on.
“The court in Greenland has today decided that Paul Watson shall continue to be detained until October 23, 2024 in order to ensure his presence in connection with the decision on extradition,” police said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, no, it’s not a surprise. The court has not changed its stance” Watson’s lawyer, Julie Stage, told AFP, adding they had appealed the decision.
Stage also said that they had also been granted the possibility of presenting their appeals of the previous detention ruling to Denmark’s Supreme Court.
“This is all based on a false accusation by a criminal enterprise, the Japanese whaling industry,” Watson himself said as he arrived at the courthouse in Nuuk.
Watson, who featured in the reality TV series “Whale Wars”, founded Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF). He is known for radical tactics including confrontations with whaling ships at sea.
– ‘False’ claims –
He was arrested on July 21 when his ship, the John Paul DeJoria, docked to refuel in Nuuk on its way to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the CPWF.
He was detained on a 2012 Japanese arrest warrant, which accuses him of causing damage to a whaling ship in 2010 and injuring a Japanese crew member with a stink bomb intended to disrupt the whalers’ activities.
In mid-September, Watson’s lawyers contacted the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, claiming that he risked “being subjected to inhumane treatment… in Japanese prisons”.
The lawyers have argued that Japan’s extradition request is based on “false” claims, and insist they have video footage proving the crew member was not on deck when the stink bomb was thrown.
But the Nuuk court has refused to view the footage, arguing that the hearings are solely about his detention and not the question of guilt.
The lawyers have also argued that the crime is not punishable by a prison sentence under Greenlandic law, and Watson should therefore not be extradited.
– ‘Slow process’ –
Watson and his lawyers are eagerly awaiting a decision from Denmark’s justice ministry on whether it will approve Japan’s extradition request.
The ministry told AFP that the legal review was “underway”, but provided no date for when a decision could be expected.
“The process is slow. The Greenlandic police is doing its investigation, which it then has to submit to the prosecutor general, who then makes a recommendation to the minister,” Stage said ahead of the hearing.
“We want the Danish minister to make a decision. At the moment they’re just letting him rot in prison, it’s really a problem,” the head of Sea Shepherd France, Lamya Essemlali, said.
Essemlali added that Watson’s prison conditions have worsened.
“They have cut almost all his contact with the outside world. He’s only allowed to speak to his wife for 10 minutes a week,” she said.
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for the release of Watson, who is controversial in environmental circles due to his radical tactics.
France, where Watson lived until his arrest, has urged Copenhagen not to extradite him.
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