Copenhagen, Dec. 17, (dpa/GNA) – Canadian-US environmentalist and anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson will not be deported to Japan to face trial for obstructing one of its whaling ships in 2010, the Danish Justice Ministry has decided.
Watson, 74, would be allowed to leave custody in Greenland to travel to his family in France, his lawyer Julie Stage told the Ritzau news agency on Tuesday. Greenland police said he had been released earlier in the day.
Watson was arrested on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Japan in the port of Nuuk in the Danish autonomous territory after arriving on board the John Paul DeJoria in July.
His detention was repeatedly extended. While Greenland is autonomous, the final decision lay with the Danish Justice Ministry.
One of the world’s best known anti-whaling activists, Watson’s confrontational methods have divided conservationists. Some see him as a hero, while others reject his radical approach. He has drawn anger from various whaling nations, including Japan in particular.
Originally a member of Greenpeace, Watson went on to found the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
The Japanese authorities issued an international arrest warrant following an incident involving a Japanese whaler in the Antarctic in 2010. He is accused of damaging the whaler and disrupting its work.
Watson rejects the allegations. His lawyers say they are a pretext used to get at him for publishing Japanese infringements of whaling agreements. There have been calls and demonstrations for his release around the world.
GNA