Paul Watson, the founder of the NGO Sea Shepherd, has been incarcerated in Nuuk prison, Greenland's capital, for over five months. The 73-year-old American-Canadian whale defender has been waiting five months for his fate to be decided. Will he be extradited to Japan, where he faces up to 15 years in prison for his involvement in an anti-whaling operation against a Japanese whaler in Antarctic waters in 2010, causing "damage and injury," according to the international arrest warrant issued by Tokyo against him in 2012; or will he be allowed to join his wife and their two children in France, where he intends to seek political asylum?
Denmark seems reluctant to decide, torn between requests from Japan and France: On July 23, the Elysée Palace announced that President Emmanuel Macron was monitoring "the situation closely" and had "interceding with the Danish authorities" to prevent Watson's extradition. Denmark is also under pressure from environmental NGOs, as well as from its autonomous territories, the Faroe Islands in particular, which practice whale hunting and do not appreciate Sea Shepherd's activities. In Copenhagen, Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard (Social Democrat) has still not said when he intends to make his decision.
In the meantime, Watson has been summoned once again to appear before the Greenland court on Monday, December 2, to decide whether or not he should be remanded in custody. This will be the sixth hearing since his arrest on July 21 in the port of Nuuk, where his boat, the John-Paul-DeJoria, had come to refuel before setting sail for the North Pacific for a new operation against a Japanese whaler.
On November 13, the judge in charge of the case urged the minister of justice to decide quickly. The activist's defenders have appealed to Denmark's Supreme Court, arguing that his pre-trial detention period should not have exceeded two or three months, "Which is the maximum sentence Paul Watson would face in Greenland if convicted of assault," said his lawyer, Jonas Christoffersen.
That the minister of justice still hasn't reached a decision doesn't surprise Christoffersen. "This is due to the very nature of the procedure, which is strictly legal. Even if the Minister of Justice makes the decision, it must be governed by the Extradition Act, knowing that it can then be challenged in court," he explained. "Before making their recommendation, the Ministry's officials must examine in detail the facts with which Watson is charged and assess whether they are reprehensible under Greenlandic law, "which takes time," noted the lawyer.
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