Japan 'regrets' release of anti-whaling activist Watson

TOKYO

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson walks after being released from prison in Nuuk, Greenland, on Dec. 17, 2024.

Japan's government voiced dismay on Wednesday over the release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson after Danish authorities refused Tokyo's extradition request.

Greenland arrested the Sea Shepherd founder in July for alleged damages and injuries caused by the group's high-seas battles to stop Japan's "scientific" whale hunts in the 2000s and 2010s.

"It is regrettable that the Denmark government did not accept Japan's request of passing him over and [the government] has conveyed this to the Danish side," said top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi.

"The suspect Paul Watson is wanted internationally as an accomplice of the February 2010 incident where activists of anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd injured members of Japanese whalers and damaged properties, after which an arrest warrant was issued," Hayashi said.

"The Japanese government will continue to deal with it appropriately based on law and evidence," he told reporters at a regular briefing.

Authorities in Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory, released the 74-year-old Canadian-American on Tuesday after Copenhagen turned down Tokyo's extradition request.

Watson featured in the reality TV series "Whale Wars" and founded Sea Shepherd and, after being thrown out, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF).

Adept at gaining publicity, he gained notoriety for "direct-action" tactics such as ramming vessels and using acoustic weapons, water cannon and stink bombs.