Greenland extends detention of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson

NEWS WIRES

1 October 2024 at 10:39 pm·1-min read

The founder of the envorinmental group Sea Shepherd was arrested in July when his ship docked in Greenland to refuel on the way to intecept a Japanese whaling vessel. He is being held on a Japanese arrest warrant pending a decision on his extradition.

A Greenland court on Wednesday extended the detention of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson for three more weeks, pending a decision on his extradition to Japan, where he is wanted over a clash with whalers.

For the third time since the 73-year-old US-Canadian campaigner's arrest in late July in Nuuk, the capital of the Danish autonomous territory, prosecutors had asked that Watson's detention be extended, as the legal review of Japan's extradition request drags on.

"The court in Greenland has today decided that Paul Watson shall continue to be detained until October 23, 2024 in order to ensure his presence in connection with the decision on extradition," police said in statement.

The statement added that Watson had appealed the court's decision -- which had been expected by his supporters.

"I still think he should be released," Watson's lawyer, Julie Stage, told AFP.

"At some point, you'll reach the problem of proportionality," she said, referring to how long the court can hold him in detention considering the crime of which he is accused.

But the Nuuk court has refused to view the footage, arguing that the hearings are solely about his detention and not the question of guilt.

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