Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has asked the French president to grant him asylum as he fights a Japanese attempt to have him extradited from Greenland, where the prominent anti-whaling activist was arrested in July, his advocacy group told a press conference in Paris on Wednesday.
Issued on: 16/10/2024
Protesters gather at Place de la République in Paris to demand the release of activist Paul Watson on September 4, 2024. © Aurelien Morissard, AP
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who is wanted in Japan, has asked French President Emmanuel Macron to grant him "political asylum", Watson's group, Sea Shepherd, said on Wednesday.
The request was made in a letter to the French head of state several days ago, Lamya Essemlali, head of Sea Shepherd France, told a press conference in Paris.
The 73-year-old US-Canadian campaigner was arrested in July in Nuuk, the capital of the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland.
From prison, Watson "wrote a letter to Emmanuel Macron", Essemlali told reporters, adding that "Paul is asking for political asylum in France".
Watson was arrested when his ship, the John Paul DeJoria, docked to refuel in Nuuk on its way to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF).
He was detained on a 2012 Japanese arrest warrant, which accuses him of causing damage to a whaling ship in 2010 and injuring a Japanese crew member with a stink bomb intended to disrupt the whalers' activities.
France, where Watson lived until his arrest, has urged Copenhagen not to extradite him.
Read morePaul Watson’s detention extended: Ruling judge ‘refuses to look at evidence’, NGO says
At the press conference, a member of Watson's defence team, French lawyer Francois Zimeray, said the activist had only "denounced the illegal nature" of Japanese whaling.
Watson "will never get a fair trial" if he is extradited, the lawyer said, adding that "if he is imprisoned in Japan, he will never get out alive".
In mid-September, Watson's lawyers contacted the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, claiming that he risked "being subjected to inhumane treatment" in Japanese prisons.
(AFP)
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who is wanted in Japan, has asked French President Emmanuel Macron to grant him "political asylum", Watson's group, Sea Shepherd, said on Wednesday.
The request was made in a letter to the French head of state several days ago, Lamya Essemlali, head of Sea Shepherd France, told a press conference in Paris.
The 73-year-old US-Canadian campaigner was arrested in July in Nuuk, the capital of the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland.
From prison, Watson "wrote a letter to Emmanuel Macron", Essemlali told reporters, adding that "Paul is asking for political asylum in France".
Watson was arrested when his ship, the John Paul DeJoria, docked to refuel in Nuuk on its way to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF).
He was detained on a 2012 Japanese arrest warrant, which accuses him of causing damage to a whaling ship in 2010 and injuring a Japanese crew member with a stink bomb intended to disrupt the whalers' activities.
France, where Watson lived until his arrest, has urged Copenhagen not to extradite him.
Read morePaul Watson’s detention extended: Ruling judge ‘refuses to look at evidence’, NGO says
At the press conference, a member of Watson's defence team, French lawyer Francois Zimeray, said the activist had only "denounced the illegal nature" of Japanese whaling.
Watson "will never get a fair trial" if he is extradited, the lawyer said, adding that "if he is imprisoned in Japan, he will never get out alive".
In mid-September, Watson's lawyers contacted the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, claiming that he risked "being subjected to inhumane treatment" in Japanese prisons.
(AFP)
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