Denmark Holds Anti-whaling Activist Paul Watson in Greenland as It Mulls Extradition to Japan

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson will remain in detention in Greenland after he was arrested in the Danish autonomous territory last month, while Denmark decides whether to extradite him to Japan, a local court ruled on Thursday.

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

Watson will remain in detention until Sept. 5, police in Greenland said in a statement, adding that he had appealed the Nuuk court's decision.

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.

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

(Reuters - Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)