He was arrested a week ago, after sailing nine days from Dublin’s Sir Rogerson’s Quay to Nuuk, Greenland. His arrival into Nuuk was a scheduled stop before heading onwards to the north Pacific. Arrival protocols had been followed and the vessel, the M/Y John Paul DeJoria, docked as expected on the morning of Sunday 21st July at Nuuk’s main port. Up to that point Paul Watson’s journey had been uneventful.
“It was a complete ambush. Police arrived directing the crew to the wheelhouse. They were matching crew to passports. Then we were joined by another dozen police, who were armed and wearing bullet proof vests. Four officers surrounded Paul. His arrest was physical. He was handcuffed, led away, and placed into the police van. This was supposed to be a simple refuelling stop. We weren’t even planning to get off the boat.”
Watson was driven directly to a temporary courthouse set up for his arraignment. A prosecutor, specially flown in from Denmark, applied for his detention in regard to an Interpol Red Notice issued by Japan. The judge spent little time deliberating and agreed with the request. Watson was to be held at Ny Anstalt prison, and the Danish Ministry of Justice was given until August 15th to decide if he would be extradited to Japan as per the Red Notice request. Watson left by van and was driven to Ny Anstalt.
Paul Watson
Search ‘Paul Watson’ on the internet and you’ll read he is an environmental activist, with a personal mission to protect the planet’s oceans and everything living in them. He was a founding member of Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd, and most recently set up the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF). He received the Genesis Award for Lifetime Achievement, was named one of Time Magazine’s Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century and was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame. He has been awarded the Amazon Peace Prize and the Jules Verne Award. But Watson’s most notable achievement is ending the illegal slaughtering of whales by Japan in the southern waters of the Antarctic Ocean.
Watson and his voluntary navy patrolled the Antarctic Ocean between 2005 and 2017, enforcing a 1986 International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan, despite being a signatory of the moratorium, continued to hunt and kill whales under the falsehood it was part of a scientific research programme. Watson and his crew took direct action against the Japanese killer fleet, frustrating their efforts and limiting their kills. In 2010, the Japanese government designated Watson an eco-terrorist and in 2012 issued an Interpol Red Notice alleging ‘trespass, injury to persons and an intention to impede commerce.’ The allegations, based on a false testimony that was later rescinded, were meant to subdue Watson. It didn’t work.
Instead, Watson continued his campaigns, bringing unwanted attention to Japan’s whaling operations. On March 31st 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled – by twelve votes to four – that Japan’s so-called whaling programme was ‘not for the purposes of scientific research’ and should stop immediately. There were appeals and denials and Japan eventually withdrew from the Antarctic Ocean after the 2018/2019 kill season, during which they hunted inside the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, slaying three hundred and thirty minke whales, including one hundred and twenty pregnant females and fifty three baby whales.
Watson remained on Japan’s most wanted list.
It’s Personal
“Two naval ships and two police boats were also stationed in and near the [Nuuk] port area during the arrest.”
By Thursday, four days after Watson’s arrest, more details of an elaborate operation for his capture were becoming apparent.
Watson had travelled in and out of the US, Ireland, France, and the UK without issue. His 2012 Red Notice was understood to have expired, and his trip to the Pacific via Nuuk gave him no cause for concern. After all, it was a quick re-fuelling stopover for Watson and the crew of twenty-five. The morning they docked was bright with brilliant blue skies, a warm welcome from the top of the world. And yet, in the distance, there was unusual activity – two small Danish naval vessels sat outside the port, waiting. Two additional police boats were inside the port near Watson’s boat. All four remained there during his arrest.
The police who arrested Watson were not local but from Denmark. It is believed a total of fourteen police officers and the prosecutor flew in days before Watson’s arrival into Nuuk. They were provided transport and accommodation. A temporary court facility was also created for Paul’s arraignment. This costly arrest was clearly pre-planned.
An individual on Nuuk close to the arrest suggested “This was a highly precise operation that probably cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Danish taxpayer.”
It is also becoming apparent that the original 2012 Red Notice had expired, but a new one was issued by Japan in March 2024 and remained confidential. It was a rehash of the 2012 Notice but used more aggressive language. The allegations were amplified.
The Nuuk source also shared that in June 2024 a bi-lateral agreement was concluded between Denmark and Japan for Watson’s arrest.
They continued: “On top of the red notice. This arrest was made possible by a very specific bi-lateral request directed by Japan to Denmark. Paul was not extradited from the US, Ireland or France because they see this Red Notice as being politically motivated. This is a personal man hunt against Paul.”
The M/Y John Paul DeJoria remains in Nuuk providing Watson with a link to the outside world.
Kyodo Senpaku and the Kangei Maru
“It [Kangei Maru] went out on its first sea trials and killed between fifteen and twenty whales.”
Japan’s fixation with whale meat began in 1570 when it gained popularity with aristocrats in Kyoto. Myths and legends quickly followed about so-called ‘brave’ sailors and fishermen taming these big beasts of the sea. By the end of WWII, whale meat made up forty-six percent of meat consumption nationally – today it makes up less than two percent. Recent opinion polls concluded ninety-five percent of Japanese ‘rarely or never eat’ whale meat and yet it remains part of a projected national identity for an older generation, who are committed to maintaining its place in Japanese culture.
“Japan has advanced bogus arguments … to justify its whaling for decades, even as its public has turned up its nose to whale meat,” concluded Patrick Ramage from the International Fund for Animal Welfare
Kyodo Senpaku is a rare company, almost as rare as the whales they slaughter. Its president. Hideki Tokoro, is a champion of bogus arguments. His firm took delivery of the Kangei Maru in April. The ship is a slaughterhouse where whales are cut and butchered, and their meat readied for Japanese markets. It’s a violent and brutal craft that robs the oceans of their magnificent mammals, and strips humans of their soul. It is a place that would confound even the devil.
“This is a new ship. The flensing deck, where whales blubber is stripped from its meat, is covered so no one can see or can access what’s happening. Everything disappears into an abyss once the whale goes up the slipway. They [Kyodo Senpaku] don’t want people to see what happens inside there,” shared one anti-whaling activist.
The Kangei Maru is not only discrete in its violence, but it also has range – allowing it to travel to far-away waters – waters at the bottom of the world like the Antarctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Aware that Japan left the International Whaling Commission in 2019, and is no longer bound by its moratorium, Watson felt compelled to find and track the floating slaughterhouse, making his ill-fated stop at Nuuk along the way.
As Watson was preparing to set sail, Kyodo Senpaku company president Tokoro gave an interview to CNN. It marked the official launch of the Kangei Maru. Tokoro, wearing a toy whale hat and whale motif tie, offered a crooked smile and spoke: “We will not switch to whale watching – unless it is eating whale, while whale watching – which sounds very chic.”
Ny Anstalt
There are six prisons in Greenland. All are small. One, housing seventy-six inmates, is Ny Anstalt. The complex was opened in 2019 and is classified as a high security prison. Inmates have private cells, barless windows, re-enforced glass is used instead, and there are a few shared spaces. Pre-trial or remand prisoners in Greenland make up twenty-one percent of the overall prison population, foreign prisoners make up less than one percent. Many assumed you had to be unlucky to be foreign and incarcerated in Greenland. In Watson’s case it appears it has more to do with collusion and vendettas.
“It’s personal against Paul, by the Japanese government and Kyodo Senpaku. Japan was taking no chances in Paul interrupting their operations this summer” concluded someone close to the arrest.
Locky MacLean, a CPWF director and crew member, has visited Watson twice since his arrest. He confirmed Watson is in good health and agreed that a high degree of co-ordination between Denmark and Japan, stretching back months, is apparent. The newly issued Red Notice, the unusual bi-lateral agreement and the rushed arraignment all cast doubt on whether due process is being followed. MacLean isn’t alone in his concerns – earlier this week French President Emmanuel Macron asked the Danish authorities not to extradite Watson, who has lived in France for the past year.
“Every effort needs to be made so that Paul doesn’t go to Japan. Paul going to Japan would be a life sentence. At seventy-three years old, he would be there for his reaming days on earth,” said MacLean.
A petition for Watson’s release can be found here:
https://www.paulwatsonfoundation.org/freepaulwatson/
