He was arrested on July 21 in Greenland while his ship was attempting to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory ship
Neither the prison bars nor the distance make him agitated: from his prison in Greenland, the American-Canadian environmentalist Paul Watson, whose extradition has been requested by Japan, continues his battle against whaling.
“They imagine this will hinder our opposition! I just changed ships and my current ship is the ‘Nuuk Prison’,” Captain Watson, 73, founder of the non-governmental organization Sea Shepherd and the foundation, told AFP with a sly smile. in favor of the oceans that bear his name.
The events attributed to him date back to 2010. Japan suspects him of being jointly responsible for damage and injuries to a Japanese whaling ship and is asking Denmark, of which Greenland is a part, to extradite him.
THE “pirate of the seas”, according to his critics, he was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, while en route on his ship, the John Paul DeJoria, to intercept a new Japanese factory whaling ship.
For Paul Watson and his defense, he is the victim of a vendetta: “They want to use me as an example, to show that nobody can touch their whaling.”
Pending Denmark’s decision, the captain is behind bars.
The court in Nuuk is due to decide on September 4 whether to extend his pre-trial detention, as he has been remanded in custody to prevent him from escaping, according to the prosecution. In 2012, he had fled Germany, where he was under house arrest, fearing extradition to Japan.
“My lawyers tell me that my detention will be extended,” says the activist, who has been living in France for almost two years.
From his prison cell, a modern gray building built into a rocky hillside, he can admire whales and icebergs.
“It’s almost like being on the bow of my ship,” he says. He is unmoved by his situation, with the exception of being separated from his children, ages 3 and almost 8.
Paul Watson reads a lot, he just “devoured” an anthology about the popes, he watches detective series, but mostly he does “what he knows best: he writes” texts, which he entrusts to Lamia Esmlali, the president of Sea Shepherd France. And she visits him almost every day.
Around the world, almost 100,000 people have signed a petition for his release, he receives many letters and his fellow prisoners sympathize with him, despite the fact that he is against seal hunting, an activity that is traditional on this Arctic island.
“I get a lot of letters, a lot of them are from children,” he says, expressing his satisfaction about this.
“They have a great passion for the world, and if we can reach the kids, I think things can change,” says this avowed misanthrope.
Politically, Paris has asked Copenhagen not to extradite him, but the Danish government remains silent.
“Denmark is in a very difficult position, on the one hand they can’t extradite me because they are staunch supporters of human rights,” says Watson, according to whom the Japanese justice system is “medieval.”
On the other hand, “I have done nothing, and if I had done something, the penalty would have been 1,500 kroner (about 200 euros), not even a prison sentence, while Japan wants to sentence me to 15 years in prison,” he assures.
A controversial figure in environmental circles, mainly because of his dynamic methods, he enjoys the unconditional support of Brigitte Bardot, the former French film star who has now turned to animal protection.
Its two ships are stationed one in each hemisphere, ready to intervene if any of the whaling powers start hunting whales again – along with Japan, Norway and Iceland are the only countries that allow whaling.
“In 1974, my goal was to eliminate whaling, and I hope to accomplish that before I die,” he says. After all, he assures, he and his comrades in battle, all they are doing is ensuring that marine sanctuaries are respected.
“I intervene in an aggressive non-violent way,” explains the fighter with thick white hair. According to him, there is no contradiction in these conditions: “This means that I will try to take the knife from the person who is trying to kill a whale, but I will not injure him.”
And although Paul Watson’s line between violence and pacifism is sometimes thin, “I won’t cross it,” he insists, “I’ve never hurt anyone.”
Source :Skai
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