Japan continues to prosecute whale conservationist Paul Watson despite Interpol's decision to lift its Red Notice

On Wednesday, July 23, Japan denounced the lifting of the Interpol Red Notice for American-Canadian environmental activist Paul Watson, a leading figure in the defense of whales. The country stated that his arrest warrant remains in effect.

The lifting of the notice for the arrest of Paul Watson , announced Tuesday by one of his lawyers, William Julié, is "extremely regrettable," a Japanese government spokesman said at a regular press briefing. "The cancellation does not change the fact that Japan's arrest warrant against him remains valid," said Yoshimasa Hayashi.

"Our position remains unchanged: we will continue to call on the parties concerned to proceed with his extradition," he added. Japan accuses Paul Watson of being jointly responsible for damage and injuries on board a Japanese whaling ship in 2010 as part of a campaign led by the NGO Sea Shepherd.

"Red Notice Cancelled! Japanese whalers have been after me for fourteen years, ever since my first arrest in Frankfurt, Germany, in May 2012," Paul Watson wrote on Tuesday on the website of his oceans charity, which bears his name. A spokesperson for Interpol, the international criminal police organization, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the Commission for the Control of Files (CCF) had "decided to delete" the Red Notice.

"This is not a judgment on the merits of the case, or on the events that took place in 2010, but a decision based on Interpol's rules on data management," the spokesperson explained. Interpol issues red notices, which are requests to locate a suspect and provisionally arrest them pending extradition, but these do not have the status of an arrest warrant.

Paul Watson, 74, was detained 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 ten years, on December 20.