Denmark Extends Detention of Activist Paul Watson till October

A court in Greenland ruled today, September 4, to extend the detention of Paul Watson, the activist best known for his years of fighting Japanese whaling with his group Sea Shepherd. Watson, who has been detained in Greenland since his arrest on July 21, and his legal argue the charges are politically motivated and intended to silence his activism. 

The third hearing since the arrest took place in Nuuk, Greenland with the court ordering the next session for October 2. Watson’s defense team has vowed to lodge an appeal against the decision. Lawyers contend they were not permitted to present evidence but that Japan was permitted to show a four-and-a-half-minute video which they allege supports the charges against Watson.

“If they let us show our evidence, there would be no case,” said Watson in a statement after today’s court hearing. “…for 50 years my greatest tool has been the camera…lt was Japan that was the aggressor, have faster vessels and could get out of the way or choose to ram and this is all about revenge for the TV show Whale Wars.”

Watson was detained while aboard his 72-meter ship, the John Paul De Joria, while it was docked in Greenland on what they said was a refueling and provisioning stop. The group reports the vessel was sailing through the Arctic to rendezvous with Japan’s new factory ship, the Kangei Maru, which is conducting the country’s annual whale hunt. 

Japan initially issued a request for Paul Watson’s arrest in 2012 as an Interpol red notice, which had expired twice since being issued, before making a direct request to Denmark in June. The warrant accuses Watson of injuring a Japanese crewmember with a non-lethal stink bomb, causing damage to a Japanese whaling vessel, and trespassing in 2010  during an anti-whaling operation in Antarctica. Japan has formally requested Watson’s extradition to face trial.

According to Watson’s legal team, they also have extensive video footage shot from a helicopter and rubber dinghy during the allegations. 

Watson is no stranger to controversy for his direct-action tactics, which have included high-seas confrontations with whaling fleets. A co-founder of Greenpeace and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, he was ousted from the group he started and in 2022 founded the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF). Watson rose to international attention with his reality TV series Whale Wars.