Watson was arrested on Sunday morning after the ship he was traveling with docked in the town of Nuuk in Greenland to refuel. On its own website, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF) writes that the ship in which Watson and 25 volunteers were on board was on its way to “intercept” Japan’s new whaling vessel in the north of the Pacific Ocean.
According to the organization, the arrest was linked to an alert issued by Interpol in 2012 after Watson was accused of causing damage to a Japanese whaling ship in the Antarctic in 2010. According to the CPWF, the arrest came as a surprise as they had been informed by their lawyers that that the notice had been withdrawn a few months ago.
– However, it appears that Japan had made the notification confidential in order to facilitate Paul’s travel for the purpose of making an arrest, the organization says in a statement.
Watson is best known for his aggressive fight against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. He has also become involved in the fight against Norwegian whaling.
Videos shared by CPWF on social media show Watson being handcuffed and driven away by a police car. According to the police, the 73-year-old activist was to be produced for remand before it was later decided whether he would be extradited to Japan.
A spokesperson for the Japanese Coast Guard says that they are aware of the arrest and that they will “coordinate with relevant units”.
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2024-07-23 04:30:02
