This request was made in a letter to the French head of state “a few days ago”, declared Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, a fervent supporter of the 73-year-old environmental activist, at a press conference in Paris.
Paul Watson “wrote a letter in prison addressed to Emmanuel Macron”, “and that I passed on to the president where Paul requests political asylum in France”, declared Ms. Essemlali at this press conference where Paul Watson’s supporters and lawyers sounded the charge against the prosecution and the extradition procedure to which he is subject.
Demonstration in support of the American-Canadian founder of the NGO Sea Shepherd Paul Watson, near the Danish embassy in Paris on September 23, 2024. AFP/Archives – Martin LELIEVRE
A fierce opponent of whaling, the 73-year-old American-Canadian, founder of Sea Shepherd and the ocean foundation that bears his name, was arrested while en route with his ship, the John Paul DeJoria, to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory ship.
Japan, which is seeking his extradition, has revived a request issued in 2012 via an Interpol red notice. It accuses him of being jointly responsible for damage and injuries on board a Japanese whaling ship two years earlier as part of a campaign led by Sea Shepherd.
In his letter to the French president, published by Sea Shepherd France on social networks, Paul Watson, who is based in France, claims that Japan is “persecuting” him for “political and not judicial” reasons. He quotes Jules Verne, Commander Cousteau, and praises the “solid conservation efforts” of France, which has the second largest maritime space in the world [after the United States].
Describing it as an “honor” that Paul Watson is requesting political asylum, Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party, said that “Emmanuel Macron [should] accept it.” “Yes, France must grant political asylum to Paul Watson whose only crime is to mobilize to defend the living,” also reacted Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the Insoumis.
“Total denial of human rights”
During the press conference, one of the members of Paul Watson’s defense team, French lawyer François Zimeray, said via videoconference that the accusations brought against Paul Watson were “only pretexts,” because he “denounced the illegal nature” of Japanese whaling and “made” the Japanese “lose face in the eyes of the world.” The activist “will never have a fair trial” if he is extradited, the lawyer accused, sharing his belief that “if he is incarcerated in Japan, he will not come out alive”.
Paul Watson arrested in Greenland
Paul Watson’s defense team is also considering suing the State of Denmark, which is responsible for the Greenlandic proceedings, added another of his lawyers, Jean Tamalet, denouncing the “situation of total denial of the most basic human rights” of the activist.
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