American-Canadian activist was arrested in Greenland over a 2010 encounter with a Japanese whaling ship.
ADVERTISEMENTEuropean Parliament delegates protested in front of the Danish embassy in Brussels today (September 5) demanding the release of a conservationist arrested by Danish police in Greenland earlier this year at the behest of Japan.
EU lawmakers Emma Fourreau (France/The Left) and Lena Schilling (Austria/Greens), who spearheaded the protest and were joined by Marc Botenga (Belgium/The Left), Thomas Pellerin-Carlin (France/S&D), Jean-Marc Germain (France/S&D) and the members of the Young European Greens, called for the immediate release of marine activist Paul Watson, the 73-year-old founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, who was arrested while his ship was docked in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, on July 21, by Danish authorities.
The man hunt was triggered by a 2012 international warrant issued by Japan, which accused the American-Canadian marine activist of damaging a Japanese whaling ship, obstructing business and injuring a crew member during an encounter in Antarctic waters in February 2010.
The arrest conducted by Interpol stemmed essentially from Watson's efforts to oppose illegal whaling in Antarctica, according to the lawmakers, who organised the protest in response to a Greenland High Court decision on Wednesday (September 4) to keep Watson in jail for an additional 28 days, until October 2, while an extradition decision to Japan is considered.
If extradited, Watson faces a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years.
"Defending nature isn't a crime. Paul Watson dedicated his life to protecting sea life and our planet. He upheld international law and safeguarded our oceans,” said Schilling. “His incarceration in a European member state shines a light on the continuously rising repressions activists face.”
Lawmaker Fourreau hailed her work as a politician working to protect the climate, oceans and biodiversity and said that remaining silent was not an option: “We cannot accept the repression and criminalisation of environmental activism.”
“Voices from around the world have already called on Denmark not to extradite Paul Watson,” said Fourreau. “Now, thousands of citizens have their eyes on the Danish government, which could make a political decision that environmentalists will neither forget nor forgive."
Whaling is prohibited in all EU countries as the bloc has strict conservation laws such as the 1992 habitats legislation and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, adopted in 1963. The EU prohibits the trade of whale products and restricts the capture, killing, or disturbance of whales as the 27-member bloc abides by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), established in 1946 to regulate global whaling.
Outside the bloc, Norway, not bound by ICRW rules, has objected to the 1986 international moratorium on commercial whaling, continuing to hunt whales for commercial purposes since 1993 and capturing around 500 minke whales each year, according to the International Whaling Commission.
The European Commission did not comment on the situation.
