Denmark frees anti-whaling activist Paul Watson and refuses Japan extradition request

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson was released from prison in Greenland on Tuesday and will not be extradited to Japan over criminal charges dating back to 2010, according to Danish authorities.

The US-Canadian citizen, 74, had been in custody in Greenland — an autonomous territory of Denmark — since July when he was arrested under a Japanese warrant after his ship docked at the island's capital, Nuuk.

Japan had issued an international arrest warrant for Watson, the founder and former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, over an encounter with a Japanese whaling research ship in 2010. Watson was accused of obstructing the crew’s official duties by ordering the captain of his own vessel to throw explosives at the whaling ship.

Denmark's justice ministry said it had rejected an extradition request by Tokyo because 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. There was no immediate comment from the Japanese embassy in Copenhagen.

Watson's charity, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, said the activist faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in Japan.

"After five months it’s good to be out and ... good to see that they are not going to send me to Japan, and so have a go-home for Christmas," Watson said in a video posted by his foundation on social media after his release.

"The only hard part was my two little boys ... I haven’t seen them since June," he added.

Formerly a leading member of Greenpeace, Watson left the organisation in 1977 due to a dispute over his tactics and set up Sea Shepherd to take a more aggressive approach.

Sea Shepherd has waged campaigns to protect whales, dolphins and other marine animals. The group is notorious for its direct action tactics, including high-seas physical confrontations with whaling vessels. Some of its campaigns have drawn backing from major celebrities and were featured in the reality television series “Whale Wars”.

In particular, Watson has received widespread support in France — where he has been living with his family since 2023 — including from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Anti-whaling activists and protesters have argued that the arrest warrant against Watson is part of a politically motivated effort to sanitise Japan’s whaling practices, which the Japanese government claims are sustainable and focused on scientific research.

Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2019 and has since resumed commercial whaling within its exclusive economic zone.