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Danish police detain Environmental hero and star of “Whale Wars” on international arrest order from Japan.
NUUK, Greenland, July 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — On the morning of Sunday, July 21st, Captain Paul Watson, co-founder of marine conservation Greenpeace, founder of Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), was arrested upon arrival in Nuuk, Greenland.
Captain Watson, on board his 72-meter flagship the M/Y JOHN PAUL DEJORIA stopped in Greenland with 25 volunteer crew to refuel, en route to the Northwest Passage as a part of the CPWF’s Operation Kangei Maru, a mission to intercept Japan’s newly-built factory whaling ship Kangei Maru in the North Pacific.
“We were here, and arrested Paul due to an international arrest order from Japan,” stated the leader of the Danish federal police boarding party at the site of the arrest. The crew were given no further information.
The arrest is believed to be related to a former Red Notice issued for Captain Watson’s previous anti-whaling interventions in the Antarctic region. Japan’s Antarctic research whaling program JARPA was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2014.
“We’re completely shocked, as the Red Notice had disappeared a few months ago. We were surprised because it could mean that it had been erased or made confidential. We understand now that Japan made it confidential to lure Paul into a false sense of security. We implore the Danish government to release Captain Watson and not entertain this politically motivated request,” stated Locky MacLean, Ship Operation’s Director for CPWF.
Operating in breach of the ICJ ruling for several years, Japan eventually ceased Antarctic high seas whaling in 2016, and now only hunts whales within its territorial waters. CPWF believes Japan plans to resume high seas whaling in the Southern Ocean and North Pacific as early as 2025, and the reactivation of the Red Notice against Captain Watson is politically motivated and coincides with the launch of a newly built factory whale processing vessel.
In Nuuk, over a dozen Danish police and SWAT team members boarded the M/Y John Paul DeJoria as soon as it made port. After a handcuffed Captain Watson was led off of the ship, he was taken to the local police station. The crew and Foundation have no means of contacting him and have had no further news. At the time of writing, Watson remains in custody, and it is unknown whether Denmark will allow Mr. Watson to be extradited to Japan.
Notes to media:
Video footage and photos here
Images Credit: CPWF
ABOUT CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON FOUNDATION: The Captain Paul Watson Foundation, founded in 2022 by esteemed environmental and conservation activist Paul Watson, co-founder of Greenpeace, and founder of Sea Shepherd, alongside tech entrepreneur Omar Todd, is a US-based non-profit dedicated to marine conservation. Committed to halting habitat destruction and wildlife slaughter in the world’s oceans, the foundation aims to safeguard marine ecosystems and species. It uses innovative direct-action tactics to expose and confront illegal activities at sea. Visit www.paulwatsonfoundation.org for more information.
##Media Inquiries:
Omar Todd: [email protected]
Captain Locky MacLean Ship Operations Director CPWF: [email protected]
+16282520233 +870773802340
Lamya Essemlali President Sea Shepherd France: [email protected]
+337600754 54
Tom Strerath – Leader Germany: [email protected]
+4917620321911
Imogen Sawyer, CPWF UK, Overseas Campaigns Coordinator: [email protected]
+44 7739 324 084
Haans Siver, Director,
CPWF Australia
[email protected]
+61 (0)438 033 777
Nathalie Gil, President
Sea Shepherd Brazil
[email protected]
+1 619 518 1718 (WhatsApp)
SOURCE The Captain Paul Watson Foundation
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