FOUNDER OF GREENPEACE and anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been released from a prison in Greenland after authorities there dropped extradition proceedings which would’ve made him face charges in Japan.

Watson was arrested in Greenland on 21 July 2024 under an Interpol ‘red-notice’ warrant, which requires local law enforcement to arrest and extradite an arrestee, issued by Japan for his actions to disrupt whaling activities in the Asian country.

Tokyo accused him of causing injury and damage to one of its whaling ships in the Antarctic in 2020. Watson claimed he was innocent and that no one had been injured as a result of the, mostly, non-violent actions taken by Sea Shepherd.

The activist, who was removed from the anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherds in 2022 and later founded his own organisation in his name, has spent years attempting to disrupt, stop and highlight the illegal slaughter of whales.

Watson was held by Danish authorities, who are in charge of Greenland, and was facing extradition to Japan. Whaling is legal in just three countries: Japan, Iceland and Norway.

Paul Watson after being released from a prison in Nuuk, Greenland this morning. Alamy Alamy

In a post to his Instagram page, the American-Canadian said he will be returning to France. He labelled the charges as “politically motivated” and said the only thing he was being prosecuted for was bringing awareness to whaling activities in Japan.

He thanked those who supported him and his organisation throughout his time on remand. “Sometimes, going to jail is necessary to make your point,” the wrote online.

“Every situation offers an opportunity, and this was another chance to shine a global spotlight on Japan’s illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. If I had been sent to Japan, I might never have come home. I’m relieved that didn’t happen.”

The announcement that Watson had been arrested and that extradition proceedings had begun was roundly condemned by fellow activists as well as French president Emmanuel Macron. 

At the time, Japanese ships hunted whales in the Antarctic and North Pacific for what it said were scientific purposes. The Japanese government label him an “eco-terrorist” because of his radical tactics.

Sea Shepherds are a group of sailors who are based primarily around the waters in eastern Asia and the Arctic and attempt to interfere, disrupt and dismantle the activities of whale hunting, which is legal in Japan, through peaceful means.

Watson founded the organisation in 1997 and it has been the subject of many documentaries including one TV series ‘Whale Wars’ by Discovery in the late 2010s. He was later removed from the organisation.