After five months in a Greenland prison, the Danish government has refused a request from the Japanese government to extradite ocean activist and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Founder Paul Watson and released him from jail.
Watson was released from custody Tuesday morning and will now be able to spend Christmas in France with his wife and two young sons.
According to Watson:
“Sometimes, going to jail is necessary to make your point. 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.”
Former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said:
“I’m delighted with Paul’s release from that threat, following the worldwide response to his arrest on a trumped-up international warrant engineered by Japan’s bloody whale-slaughtering industry. The Japanese authorities have never forgiven him for leading the campaign to end their illegal whaling in Antarctic waters. Denmark has wisely decided to go with global opinion rather than the whale butchers in Tokyo.”
