A Greenland court on Thursday ordered American-Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson to be held in custody until September 5, pending a decision on his possible extradition to Japan.
He was arrested and detained in Nuuk, the capital of the autonomous Danish territory, in July.
The district court ruled that Watson had to remain in custody “to ensure his presence in connection with a decision on the issue of extradition,” Greenland Police said in a statement.
His defense team sought his immediate release and the police statement said Watson immediately appealed the decision.
As he was led away by police in handcuffs, the 73-year-old activist told AFP that his detention “puts more pressure on Japan for its illegal whaling activities.”
Watson, who appeared on the reality show “Whale Wars”, founded Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), is known for radical tactics, including clashes with whaling ships at sea.
He was arrested in Nuuk on the basis of a 2012 Interpol “Red Notice” after Japan accused him of damaging one of its whaling ships in Antarctica two years earlier and causing injury.
Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd’s French branch who attended the hearing, told AFP that Watson’s lawyers were not allowed to present footage to the court that she said showed “that the Japanese had fabricated evidence.”
Japan accused Watson of injuring a Japanese crew member with a stink bomb intended to disrupt whaling activities in 2010.
Julie Stage, one of Watson’s lawyers, told AFP before the hearing that they planned to present footage from “Whale Wars” that showed the crew member in question “was not even present when the stink bomb was dropped.”
– ‘Clearly wrong’ –
He could only have been injured by the tear gas the whaling crew fired at the activists because the crew was not on deck when the stink bomb was dropped, she added.
“The extradition request regarding Watson is based on clearly flawed facts,” Stage said.
Thursday’s hearing, however, was only about Watson’s detention in custody and not the question of his guilt nor the extradition request.
The decision on Watson’s extradition will be made independently.
The Greenland police must first decide whether there is a basis for extradition, after which the Danish Ministry of Justice will decide whether or not to proceed with the extradition.
No date has been announced for these decisions.
“A review of the formal extradition request and accompanying documents by Japanese authorities is currently underway,” Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told AFP in a statement on Thursday.
“This is a process that involves several procedural steps and I naturally await the legal evaluation of the material received.”
Watson was arrested on July 21 when his ship John Paul DeJoria docked in Nuuk to refuel.
The vessel was on its way to “intercept” a new Japanese whaling factory ship in the North Pacific, according to CPWF.
In 2010, a Japanese court convicted another Sea Shepherd activist present at the time of the incident involving Watson, Peter Bethune of New Zealand, giving him a two-year suspended sentence.
– ‘Presumption of guilt’ –
François Zimeray, another of Watson’s lawyers, said Watson would not get a fair trial in Japan.
“This case has nothing to do with the facts,” he told AFP.
“This is a matter of revenge from the Japanese legal system and Japanese authorities,” he said.
“In Japan, there is a presumption of guilt,” he said, adding, “Prosecutors are proud to announce that they have a 99.6 percent conviction rate.”
Watson’s supporters say he would not survive extradition.
Essemlali told AFP earlier this week that Japan would not be lenient and, given his age, he would likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
“If he is extradited to Japan, he will not come out alive,” she said.
Watson’s arrest sparked a series of protests calling for his release.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office asked Denmark not to extradite the activist, who lived in France last year.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has not yet commented on the case.
cbw/po/jll/jj
