Detained Sea Shepherd Founder Aims to Get French Nationality

Paris, Oct. 24 (Jiji Press)--Paul Watson, founder of antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd, detained in Greenland, has applied to obtain French nationality to avoid extradition demanded by Japan, French media outlets Thursday quoted his attorney as saying.

Watson, who has U.S. and Canadian nationalities, had requested political asylum in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron this month, according to media reports.

But Watson has apparently switched to acquiring French nationality, as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that approving asylum sought from outside the country would be difficult.

Over the antiwhaling activist, the Japan Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant on suspicion of causing injury and forcibly obstructing business by blocking Japanese research whaling in 2010 and placed him on an international wanted list.

Watson, 73, was captured in Greenland, the autonomous territory of Denmark, where his ship stopped by for refueling in July this year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]