Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson arrested on Japan's orders days after leaving Dublin
In an exclusive interview with the Irish Mirror, he said he would do everything in his power to frustrate Japan's new monster whaling ship
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been arrested on Japan's orders just days after leaving Irish waters. We spoke to the Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd founder when he docked in Dublin to get ready to fight whale hunting in Iceland and Japan.
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation told us that given Iceland's decision not to go ahead with its plan to hunt at risk fin whales, the ship would make its way towards Japan through the Northwest passage to tackle the new factory-whaling ship the Kangei Maru.
Over a dozen Danish police and SWAT are understood to have boarded the John Paul DeJoria as soon as it made port in Nuuk, Greenland on Sunday where they handcuffed 73-year-old Captain Paul Watson and took him to a local police station where his 25-strong crew were unable to reach him.
READ MORE: Captain Paul Watson's ship leaves Dublin to take on 'most high-stakes mission'
READ MORE: We go behind the scenes with Paul Watson aboard his anti-whaling ship in Dublin
It is understood his arrest came after Japan launched an international arrest order for the Canadian-American activist and he now faces the possibility of being extradited to the country he aims to stop killing whales.
CPWF say the leader of the Danish federal police boarding party told them: "We were here, and arrested Paul due to an international arrest order from Japan."
The arrest is believed to be related to a former Red Notice issued for Captain Watson's previous anti-whaling interventions in the Antarctic. Japan's Antarctic research whaling program JARPA was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2014.
Locky MacLean, ship operations director for CPWF, said: "We're completely shocked, as the Red Notice had disappeared a few months ago. We were surprised because it could mean that it had been erased or made confidential. We understand now that Japan made it confidential to lure Paul into a false sense of security.
"We implore the Danish government to release Captain Watson and not entertain this politically motivated request."
CPFW say Japan was operating in breach of the ICJ ruling for several years but eventually stopped Antarctic high seas whaling in 2016, and now only hunts whales in its territorial waters.
But they believe Japan plans to resume high seas whaling in the Southern Ocean and North Pacific as early as 2025 and say the reactivation of the Red Notice against Captain Watson is politically motivated and coincides with the launch of their newly built factory whale processing vessel, which can haul 70-ton fin whales on board, hold 600 tons of meat and travel 13,000km.
Sea Shepherd has also appealed for the release of its founder, saying: "We are aware of the news that Paul Watson has been arrested in Greenland on charges related to his opposition to whaling.
"We condemn whaling unequivocally and call for the immediate release of Paul Watson."
Danish police have been contacted for comment.
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