A total of 73 politicians from ten different countries have reached out to Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, in a letter urging for the immediate release of environmental activist Paul Watson. Watson, a prominent figure in environmental protection, was detained in Greenland on July 21 and faces possible extradition to Japan, which has held an international arrest warrant against him since 2010.
The letter, now delivered to the Danish government, bears the signatures of both Members of the European Parliament and national politicians from a diverse array of countries including France, Finland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg. Among these prominent supporters is French Member of the European Parliament Emma Forreau from the European United Left – Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), who states that Watson’s case is symptomatic of a global increase in the oppression and criminalization of environmental activists.
According to Forreau, the mobilization of parliamentarians from ten European countries sends a clear message to the Danish government that this trend must be halted. The case concerning Watson, who is 73 years old and one of the original co-founders of Greenpeace, has thus taken on an international dimension, highlighting the challenges that environmental activists face worldwide. However, it should be noted that Watson is no longer affiliated with Greenpeace.
Updates on this case are expected to continue.