🇩🇰 Denmark. Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson arrested by authorities, NGO announces

Paul Watson arrested: Sea Shepherd founder questioned in Greenland

The founder of the Sea Shepherd NGO, Captain Paul Watson, was arrested by Danish authorities in Greenland on Sunday, July 21. This information was announced by Sea Shepherd’s French branch on social network X. Paul Watson was arrested for “having sailed in Faroese waters in 2023 as part of Operation Bloody Fjords” and “on the basis of the Interpol red notice, put in place in 2012 following Japan’s arrest warrant”, the organization states.

Sea Shepherd criticizes Interpol’s red notice system, accused of misuse for political purposes. “After being online for years, the notice had recently disappeared from the Interpol website, leaving Paul Watson and his lawyers to believe that he was now free to move,” comments the NGO on X.

Like Norway and Iceland, Japan still practices commercial whaling, despite criticism from environmentalists and animal rights activists. “Paul Watson led more than a decade of opposition to this whaling,” recalls Sea Shepherd.

In making this arrest, “Denmark, which also defends the illegal slaughter of dolphins in the Faroe Islands, is playing into the hands of Japan, which has been condemned by the International Tribunal in The Hague for illegal whaling in the Antarctic sanctuary”, accuses Sea Shepherd. According to the NGO, Paul Watson risks “extradition to Japan”, where he could “end his days”. Sea Shepherd concludes: “We will fight to the bitter end to prevent this.”

Source: Police et réalités