Interpol lifts red notice for anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson
"Interpol has officially and permanently dismissed the Red Notice against me," Watson said in a statement, adding the charges against him were "politically motivated."
Interpol had issued the notice against Watson, known for radical tactics including confrontations with whaling ships at sea, at the request of Japan, but has now decided the measure was "disproportionate", his lawyer William Julie said in a separate statement.
"The Japanese whalers have been after me for 14 years ever since I was first detained in Frankfurt, Germany in May 2012," Watson said in the statement published by his ocean conservation charity, The Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
"It has been an incredible pursuit by a very powerful nation using unlimited resources but finally I am free of their vendetta and their relentless persecution," said Watson, who is also the founder of the Sea Shepherd direct action group.
A spokesperson for Interpol confirmed to AFP that the Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files (CCF) had deleted the red notice, which is a request to police worldwide to arrest a suspect.
Watson, a 74-year-old Canadian-American, was arrested and detained in Greenland in July, 2024 on a 2012 Japanese warrant, which accused him of causing damage to a whaling ship and injuring a whaler.
He was released in December after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over the 2010 clash with whalers.
On December 20, he returned to France, where his children attend school, following a high-profile campaign in his support.
- Japanese arrest warrant -
"The decision to delete Mr Watson's red notice was made by the CCF -- an independent body tasked to ensure that the processing of personal data by Interpol is in compliance with its constitution and rules," the Interpol spokesperson said.
"This is not a judgement on the merits of the case, or the events that occurred in 2010, but a decision based on Interpol's rules on the processing of data," the spokesperson added.
"The CCF decision was made in light of new facts, including the refusal by the Kingdom of Denmark to extradite Mr Watson. This is in line with normal procedures."
In a statement, Julie said the CCF considered that the red notice "did not meet Interpol's standards, citing the disproportionate nature of the charges, Mr Watson's supposed only indirect involvement (which is contested), the considerable passage of time since the alleged facts, Denmark's refusal to extradite him, and the fact that several other countries declined to act on Japan's arrest or extradition requests."
He also said that the Commission pointed to the existence of "political elements" around the case, which gave it an "importance beyond its intrinsic criminal characteristics or pure law-enforcement interest."
Sea Shepherd France praised the decision as "a moral and symbolic victory" but warned that it did not yet restore Watson's freedom of movement.
"The Japanese arrest warrant remains active, and any country can still choose to execute it," the group said on X.
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