Denmark has rejected a Japanese request to extradite anti-whaling activist Paul Watson over criminal charges dating back more than a decade, a Danish lawyer representing Watson said on Tuesday.
Watson, 74, a U.S. Canadian and founder of the Sea Shepherd conservationist group and of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, has now been released from detention in the Greenland capital Nuuk, Greenland police said.
Watson was apprehended when his ship docked in the Danish autonomous territory in July.
“Paul is free !!!,” Sea Shepherd France wrote on social media platform X.
Denmark’s justice ministry said it had based its decision on an overall assessment, including the age of the case and in particular an uncertainty over whether time spent in Greenland detention could be deducted from any final sentence in Japan.
“Based on correspondence with the Japanese authorities on this matter, the Ministry of Justice believes that it cannot be assumed with the necessary certainty that this will be the case,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said in a statement.
Watson’s lawyer Julie Stage said she was satisfied with the decision.
“We think it has taken a long time, but the most important thing is that it ends with the right decision,” Stage said.
“He was happy and relieved but incredibly calm, which he has been throughout the whole process,” she said after speaking with Watson on Tuesday.
Charges related to 2010 incident
Japan had issued an international warrant for Watson’s arrest, seeking him on charges of breaking into a Japanese vessel in the Antarctic Ocean in 2010, obstructing its business and causing injury as well as property damage.
A spokesperson for Japan’s embassy in Copenhagen declined to comment. Japan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Watson denied the accusations against him. His lawyers have said Japan’s justice system could not be trusted to give the activist a fair trial, and that Denmark should deny the request for extradition.
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Supporters of Watson had launched a campaign for his release, enlisting the support of politicians and celebrities, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Bardot and Irish actor Pierce Brosnan.
France, where Watson has been residing since 2023, has also discussed Watson’s case on a ministerial level, according to Denmark’s Justice Ministry.
A spokesperson for Japan’s embassy in Copenhagen declined to comment.
Watson left Sea Shepherd in 2022 to set up his own organization. He was also a leading member of Greenpeace before leaving in 1977 amid disagreements over tactics.