Greenland court extends detention for anti-whaling activist Watson

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson will remain in detention in Greenland where he has been held since July while Denmark decides whether to extradite him to Japan, local police said on Wednesday.

U.S.-Canadian Watson, 73, founder of the Sea Shepherd conservationist group and of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, was apprehended by police in the Danish autonomous region when his ship docked at the port of Nuuk on July 21.

"We continue to fight for the case to be concluded," his lawyer Jonas Christoffersen told Reuters, adding he would appeal the decision to a higher court in Greenland.

Japan issued an international warrant for his arrest more than a decade ago, seeking him on charges of breaking into a Japanese vessel in the Antarctic Ocean in 2010, obstructing its business and causing injury as well as property damage.

Watson's lawyers have previously said Japan's justice system could not be trusted to give the activist a fair trial, and that Denmark should deny the request for extradition.

Supporters of Watson have launched a campaign for his release, enlisting the support of politicians and celebrities, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Bardot and Irish actor Pierce Brosnan.

France, where Watson has been residing since 2023, is discussing Watson's case on a ministerial level, according to Denmark's Justice Ministry.

Watson will remain in detention until Nov. 13, police in Greenland said in a statement.

(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen and Isabelle Yr Carlsson, editing by Stine Jacobsen)