Santiago de Chile, December 12, 2024 (Ecoceanos – CCC). The Paris City Hall has conferred honorary citizenship upon Paul Watson (73), the prominent activist against commercial whaling and ocean defender, who is currently detained in Greenland under an extradition request from the Japanese government. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo symbolically presented the recognition to Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, who expressed gratitude on behalf of Watson for the commitment of the people of Paris to secure his release.

Hidalgo stated that she has urged President Macron to grant Watson French citizenship, a request she has been making since his unjust arrest. His asylum application is currently “under review” by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hidalgo emphasized that awarding Parisian citizenship is a “symbolic” first step towards turning Watson’s detention into an international issue of human rights and environmental protection.

Calls for Urgent Political Asylum for Paul Watson from France

Elsa Cabrera, executive director of the Cetacea Conservation Center (CCC), asserted in Chile that this decision by the Paris City Hall represents a powerful call from millions around the globe demanding the release of Paul Watson, one of history’s foremost defenders of whales, who has been unjustly detained in Denmark due to pressure from Japan to silence those opposing its criminal whaling activities.

“As environmental organizations, we reiterate the urgent need for President Emmanuel Macron to immediately grant French citizenship to Watson. We also urge Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to provide him with political asylum without delay, as his physical safety and life are in grave danger. Protecting the rights of those who defend our biodiversity is a moral imperative and a shared responsibility of the international community.”

Juan Carlos Cárdenas, executive director of Centro Ecoceanos, noted that Watson’s receipt of Parisian citizenship is “a significant signal of political and moral advancement in the international citizen pressure campaign, which, alongside various socio-environmental and human rights organizations, is fighting against the aggressive attempts of the Japanese whaling industry to punish, imprison, and silence Paul Watson, as a means to intimidate those who actively oppose their interests in resuming industrial whaling in the Pacific, Southern, and Antarctic waters.”

The veterinarian also indicated that the recognition from the Paris City Hall “serves as a warning to the mega salmon farming industry, which is attempting to create laws through Parliament to criminalize and silence social, environmental, and human rights defenders in Chile who oppose its destructive expansion in Patagonia.”

Global Citizen Support Essential to Halt the Persecution of Environmental Defenders

Lucio Cuenca, director of the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts (OLCA), expressed concern about Denmark’s ongoing delays in the judicial process regarding Paul Watson, saying, “As we approach five months since his detention, the international support from citizens around the world, both from the Global North and South, remains vital to keep the spotlight on the persecution faced by Watson and other environmental defenders who have been targets of harassment from states, power groups, and law enforcement.”

“From the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts, we celebrate the support for the defender of the oceans and whales, and we hope that granting honorary citizenship to Watson will serve as an encouragement to continue the fight for social justice and a natural environment free from private interests, thus securing his freedom and bolstering the defense of our oceans and whales.”

On December 2, 2024, the district court of Sermersooq in Greenland, an autonomous region of Denmark, decided to extend Paul Watson’s detention for an additional two weeks while awaiting a ruling on his possible extradition to Japan. This decision was made during the sixth hearing since his arrest in July, and Watson will remain in custody until December 18, 2024, when the Danish Ministry of Justice is expected to issue its decision.

In response, socio-environmental organizations made a joint call to intensify citizen pressure for France to grant citizenship and political asylum to Paul Watson, and for Denmark to uphold the principles of equity and human rights that have characterized its judicial system, until now.