By SHOHEI SASAGAWA/ Staff Writer
August 2, 2024 at 15:24 JST
Paul Watson, founder of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, attends an animal rights rally in Berlin on May 23, 2012. (REUTERS)
Japan has requested that Denmark extradite the founder of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society after he was recently arrested in Greenland.
Japan has issued an international arrest warrant for Paul Watson through Interpol on charges of interfering with the Antarctic operations of the Japanese whaling fleet in 2010.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Aug. 2 that Danish authorities have not yet responded to Japan’s request, which was made July 31.
“We will continue to take appropriate measures, including making approaches to relevant countries and organizations,” Hayashi said.
Watson was apprehended July 21 by police in Greenland while refueling his vessel en route to the Pacific Ocean to disrupt Japanese whaling activities.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
The latest development highlights tensions between Japan and anti-whaling activists.
Japan has long defended its whaling program as part of its scientific research, while environmental groups argue that it is simply commercial whaling in disguise.
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