Japan upholds arrest warrant for environmentalist Paul Watson despite Interpol ruling

Japan on Wednesday (23) denounced the revocation of Interpol's Red Circular against American-Canadian environmental activist Paul Watson, a prominent figure in the defense of whales, and declared that his arrest warrant remains in force.

The revocation of Watson's arrest warrant, announced Tuesday by one of his lawyers, William Julié, is "extremely regrettable," a Japanese government spokesman said at a press conference.

"The revocation does not change the fact that Japan's arrest warrant against him remains in effect," said Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary. "Our position remains unchanged: we will continue to urge the relevant parties to proceed with his extradition," he added.

Japan accuses Watson of being a correspondent for the damage and injuries aboard a Japanese whaling ship in 2010, as part of a campaign led by the NGO Sea Shepherd.

"Red Circle cancelled! Japanese whalers have been hunting me for 14 years, since my first arrest in Frankfurt, Germany, in May 2012," Paul Watson wrote Tuesday on the website of his namesake foundation, dedicated to protecting the oceans.

A spokesperson for Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, confirmed to AFP that Interpol's Commission for the Control of Files (CCF) had "decided to eliminate" this Red Circular.

"This is not a ruling on the merits of the case or on the events that occurred in 2010, but a decision based on Interpol's data management standards," the spokesperson explained.

Interpol issues Red Notices, which are requests to locate a suspect and provisionally detain him or her pending extradition, but do not have the status of an arrest warrant.

Paul Watson, 74, was detained in Greenland for five months before Denmark rejected an extradition request from Japan. He was able to return to Paris, where he has lived for 10 years.

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