Greenland arrests anti-whaling activist on Japan warrant

STOCKHOLM

Police in Greenland arrested prominent anti-whaling environmentalist Paul Watson under an international warrant issued by Japan, authorities and his foundation said.

His ship had just docked on July 21 in Nuuk to refuel on its way to "intercept" Japan's new whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF) said.

Video posted by CPWF on social media showed officers handcuffing Watson on the bridge of the John Paul DeJoria ship, putting him inside a police van on the dockside and driving him away.

Police said he would be brought before a district court where they will request his detention "before a decision is made on whether he should be extradited to Japan".

CPWF said it believed his arrest was in connection with an Interpol Red Notice related to Watson's previous anti-whaling activities in the Antarctic.

Japan's government yesterday made no comment but a spokeswoman for the Japanese coastguard told AFP it was aware of the arrest.

CPWF said the ship was en route to the Northwest Passage in its campaign of "intercepting Japan's newly-built factory ship, the Kangei Maru, in the North Pacific".

The 9,300-ton "mothership", which set off from Japan in May, butchers whales caught and killed by smaller vessels.

Tokyo argues that eating whale is part of Japanese culture and an issue of "food security" in the resource-poor country, which imports large amounts of animal meat.

But consumption of whale has fallen to around 1,000 or 2,000 tonnes per year compared to around 200 times that in the 1960s.