Sea Shepherd founder and anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been arrested in Greenland and awaits potential extradition to Japan.
The arrest relates to incidents in the Southern Ocean in February 2010. The charges against Watson include “accomplice to an assault” and “ship trespass”. Both relate to the boarding of the Japanese vessel Shonan Maru No 2 by Pete Bethune, who was captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil. Bethune was detained on the Shonan Maru No 2 and returned to Japan for trial, where he received a suspended sentence. An international arrest warrant was issued for Watson in 2012.
At the time of the recent arrest on July 21, Watson’s ship had stopped for refuelling while en route to intercept a Japanese whaling vessel, the Kangei Maru. He was on board the John Paul DeJoria, owned by the Captain Paul Watson Foundation he founded two years ago.
