BERLIN (AP) — Greenlandic police said they arrested a veteran environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner Sunday on an international arrest warrant issued by Japan.
Paul Watson Police said the suspect was arrested on board a ship docked in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, and will be taken to a local court for detention pending a decision on his extradition to Japan.
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation said a dozen police officers boarded the ship when it stopped to refuel, handcuffed Watson and took him away. The ship, with a crew of 25 volunteers, was heading to the North Pacific on a mission to intercept new Japanese whaling ships, the foundation said.
“This arrest is believed to be related to a red notice issued to Captain Watson for his previous anti-whaling activities in the Antarctic,” the foundation said in an emailed statement.
“We appeal to the Danish government to release Captain Watson and not give in to this politically motivated demand,” foundation director Rocky MacLean said in a statement.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Watson, 73, a Canadian-American, is the former head of the Sea Shepherd conservation group, which has attracted A-list celebrity support for its direct action tactics, including confrontations with whaling ships on the high seas, and appeared on the reality TV show “Whale Wars.”
But it has also led to conflicts with authorities: He was detained in Germany in 2012 on a Costa Rican extradition warrant, but jumped bail after learning he was also wanted by Japan for endangering the lives of whalers during operations in the Antarctic. Since then, he has lived in countries including France and the United States.
Watson, who left Sea Shepherd in 2022 to start his own organization, was also a leading member of Greenpeace but left in 1977 due to differences over aggressive tactics.
According to his foundation, Watson’s current ship, the John Paul DeJoria, was set to sail through the Northwest Passage into the North Pacific to face off against newly built Japanese whaling ships, “a murderous enemy devoid of compassion or empathy bent on destroying the most intelligent, self-aware, sentient creatures in the ocean.”
