Exclusive: Whale activist Paul Watson jailed in Greenland: 'Extradition to Japan means death sentence for me'

Le capitaine Paul Watson, irréductible défenseur des océans et des baleines. DR/S.Shepherd

Paul Watson, a 74-year-old Canadian, a famous environmental activist and ocean defender, and founder of the radical NGO Sea Shepherd, was arrested on July 21 in Greenland, a territory dependent on Denmark. This was following an arrest warrant from Japan, which accuses him of obstructing its whaling campaigns and of incidents that occurred in 2010. The man who was the hero of the series “Sea Vigilante”, was just leaving to fight against Japan's new whaling ship, on a capture campaign in the North Pacific. Since then, Captain Watson has been sleeping in prison. On Wednesday, September 4, the Supreme Court will examine his second request for release. But he still faces the threat of extradition to Japan by Denmark, which is in conflict with Sea Shepherd over dolphin hunting. He answers our questions transmitted in prison by the president of Sea Shepherd France, Lamya Essemlali.

Paul Watson, you have been incarcerated since July 21 in Greenland, a Danish protectorate, following an arrest warrant from Japan accusing you of incidents with a whaling ship… In 2010. How are you??

I am as well as one can be when one is unjustly imprisoned. But I know that what I did was the right thing and I have no regrets. My conditions of detention are correct, I am not mistreated here, but if justice was functional, I would have been released a long time ago.

On September 4, the Supreme Court of Denmark examines your request for release: what do you expect from it??

I have little hope of being released because the judge refuses to view the images that could exonerate me. The magistrate, during the first hearing on August 15, refused to see the videos that my lawyers had brought. And everything suggests that this will also be the case during this hearing.

If the judge sees these videos, he is obliged to release me because they prove that the crime of which I am accused was not committed. But it is clearly not Justice that is at work here. This is a matter of revenge. Japan wants to punish me for obstructing its illegal whaling.

What do you expect from Denmark, which must also decide whether or not to extradite you to Japan ?

Denmark is supposed to have a fair justice system and respect human rights. If they stick to that and don't give in to political pressure from Japan, then they will make the only fair decision possible and release me.

Are you afraid of Japan's extradition request??

Extradition to Japan means a death sentence for me. The prison system in Japan is one of the worst in the world and it is not possible to get a fair trial there. In any case, Japan is not seeking justice, they have fabricated evidence to make me guilty so they can get revenge. If I am extradited to Japan, I will never come back.

Why do you think Japan is so angry with you 14 years later ?

Japan is acting out of pride. They think I humiliated them by stopping them from killing thousands of whales and by making the TV series “Whale Wars” that exposed their illegal actions to millions of people.

They also know that I didn't abandon my missions and was on my way to stop them from killing more whales when they had me arrested by Denmark.

Japan thinks it is above the law, it violates the moratorium on commercial whaling, it violates the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. They have been condemned for this but have not received any punishment. So they allow themselves to hunt me down with all the economic and political power at their disposal, for the sole reason that they think they can do it without any consequences.

The mobilization for your cause is strong in France, including President Macron who defended you. What does that inspire in you??

It touches me that France is mobilizing so much for my release and at the same time, it makes sense to me. France is a great maritime nation, home of Jules Verne and Jacques Cousteau.

I also have many ties there, I settled there with my family, I have many friends there and I am very close to Sea Shepherd France, which in my eyes best embodies the essence of the Sea Shepherd movement as I founded it in 1977 (*). Long live France! (laughs).

Japan launched the Kangei Maru in May, the largest whaling ship ever built, which is currently hunting…

What Japan is doing is strictly illegal. The Kangei Maru is killing whales with impunity in violation of the moratorium and instead of stopping it as I set out to do, I am stuck here in prison. But Japan is making a grave mistake because by imprisoning me, they are turning the world's attention to their own actions.

That was my primary goal. In that, they have helped me, in spite of themselves, to achieve my goal. I now hope that the world will rise up and say: “STOP”. What I can no longer do because I am in prison, it is up to all of us, all together, to do. It is our common responsibility. If my fate can serve to raise awareness about whaling, nothing will have been in vain.

(*) The NGO Sea Shepherd experienced a split in 2022 between its global branch which found Watson too radical and the French, English or Brazilian branches which support the founder. I subscribe to read the rest