Latest news with #antiwhaling
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Interpol takes U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling ‘eco-pirate' off most-wanted list
Interpol has removed an international alert for a U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling activist sought by Japan for more than a decade. In an emailed statement Wednesday, Interpol confirmed the lifting of the 'red notice' against Paul Watson, who is 74 and a former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Watson, who has been an active and outspoken anti-whaling activist for decades, was a founder of Greenpeace but was expelled eight years later for what it called his violent actions (Watson said he took a club from a man attacking baby seals). He went on to establish the organization that would become the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which, in the 1970s and 1980s, used tactics included sinking several ships.
Al Jazeera
7 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Interpol takes whaling activist, Sea Shepherd founder off wanted list
Global police organisation Interpol said it has removed its most-wanted designation for the anti-whaling activist and founder of the Sea Shepherd conservation group, Paul Watson, who is wanted in Japan over an encounter with a whaling ship in 2010. Interpol had issued a 'red notice', at Japan's request, for the arrest of the Canadian-American Watson, 74, who is known for his daring tactics, including disrupting and confronting whaling ships on the high seas. Interpol has now decided that the notice was 'disproportionate', Watson's Paris-based lawyer William Julie said on Tuesday. An Interpol red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending legal action, based on a warrant from the judicial authorities in the requesting country, in this case, Japan. In a post on social media by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, the activist was quoted saying: 'Finally I am free.' 'The Japanese whalers have been after me for 14 years ever since I was first detained in Frankfurt, Germany in May 2012,' Watson said. 'It has been an incredible pursuit by a very powerful nation using unlimited resources but finally I am free.' 🚨INTERPOL RED NOTICE CANCELLED!! The Japanese whalers have been after me for 14 years ever since I was first detained in Frankfurt, Germany in May 2012. It has been an incredible pursuit by a very powerful nation using unlimited resources but finally I am free — Captain Paul Watson Foundation 🐋🏴☠️ (@CaptPaulWatson) July 22, 2025 A spokesperson for Interpol confirmed to the AFP news agency that the organisation's Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files (CCF) had deleted the arrest notice for Watson. '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,' the spokesperson said. Watson was arrested and detained in Greenland in July 2024, on a more than decade-old Japanese arrest 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 incident. Watson left Denmark on December 20, and returned to France, where his children attend school. In a statement, Watson's lawyer said that the CCF considered that Interpol's red notice 'did not meet Interpol's standards, citing the disproportionate nature of the charges… 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'. Lamya Essemlali, the president of Sea Shepherd France, hailed the 'good news that this notice was finally cancelled', but noted that Watson could still be arrested and sent to Japan for prosecution. 'It does not give Paul Watson his freedom of movement because the Japanese arrest warrant is sufficient for a country to order his arrest,' she said.
The Independent
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Interpol removes ‘Whale Wars' campaigner Paul Watson from its most-wanted list
Interpol has said it is removing a most-wanted designation for anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson. Watson is sought by Japan over an encounter with a whaling ship and who was jailed for several months last year in Greenland. The 74-year-old is a former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose high seas confrontations with whaling vessels have drawn support from celebrities and featured in the reality television series 'Whale Wars.' Japan wants his extradition over an encounter with a Japanese whaling research ship in 2001, when he was accused of obstructing the crew's official duties by ordering the captain of his ship to throw explosives at the whaling ship. Starting in 2012, Watson had been subject to a 'red notice' of Interpol, the Lyon, France -based international police body. The Canadian-American activist was arrested and jailed on the Japanese warrant last year in Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, but released after five months. Denmark does not have an extradition treaty with Japan, where Watson's foundation says he could have faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, and the Danish government declined to extradite him to Japan. At the time of his release, the Danish Justice Ministry said it had not received adequate guarantees from Japanese authorities that the time Watson had already served in custody would be counted against any sentence he would receive in Japan. In a statement, Interpol said the decision to remove Watson from the 'red notice' list did not reflect any judgment on the merits of the case in Japan, but that it did take into account Denmark's refusal to extradite him. 'This is not a judgement on the merits of the case, or the events that occurred in 2010,' the Interpol statement said. The police agency said the decision was made by an independent body, the Commission for the Control of Interpol's File, which is tasked to ensure that the police body's processing of personal data adheres to its internal rules. Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, hailed the 'good news that this notice was finally cancelled," but she noted that Watson still could be arrested and sent to Japan for prosecution. 'It does not give Paul Watson his freedom of movements because the Japanese arrest warrant is sufficient for a country to order his arrest,″ she said.
