Japan denounced on Wednesday, July 23, the Red Notice of Interpol on Wednesday, July 23, addressed to the American-Canadian environmental activist Paul Watson, a figure in the defense of the whales, and said that his arrest warrant remains valid.
The uprising of this notice aimed at the arrest of Paul Watson, announced on Tuesday by one of his lawyers, Me William Julié, is “extremely unfortunate,” said a Japanese government spokesman in a regular press point.
“The cancellation does not change the fact that Japan’s arrest warrant is still valid,” said Yoshima Hayashi. “Our position remains unchanged: we will continue to call the parties worried to carry out their extradition,” he added.
Japan accuses Paul Watson of being a response to damage and injuries aboard a Japanese whale ship in 2010 as part of a Pastor of the ONGO Pastor.
“A decision based on Interpol’s rules”
“Red notice canceled! Japanese whales have been on their backs for 14 years and since my first arrest in Frankfurt (Germany), in May 2012,” Paul Watson wrote on Tuesday on the website of their foundation in favor of the oceans, which bears his name.
An Interpol spokesman, the International Criminal Police Organization, confirmed to AFP that the Archive Control Commission (CCF) had “decided to erase” this red notice.
“It is not a trial on the file substance, or about these events that took place in 2010, but a decision based on Interpol’s rules in terms of data management,” said this spokesman.
Interpol issues red notices, which constitute requests to locate a suspicious person and make their provisional arrest waiting for their extradition, but do not have the state of arrest.
Paul Watson, 74, was arrested 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 on December 20.
Source: BFM TV
