Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Says Japan Still Seeks Surrender of Anti-Whaling Activist Watson; Emphasizing Warrant’s Validity

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:56 JST, July 24, 2025

Japan has no intention of changing its policy of seeking the surrender of Paul Watson, founder of the anti-whaling group the Sea Shepherd, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday.

“It is extremely regrettable,” Hayashi said of the decision by the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, to remove Watson from its international wanted list.

The Interpol announced Tuesday that it would remove Watson from its “red notice” wanted list. A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, based on a warrant from the judicial authorities in the requesting country, in this case Japan.

“Our arrest warrant remains valid, and our policy of requesting the extradition of the suspect from relevant countries remains unchanged,” Hayashi emphasized

Watson, 74, was on the international wanted list after the Japan Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for him for allegedly interfering with Japan’s research whaling vessel in the Antarctic Ocean in 2010.

Last July, he was detained in the Danish territory of Greenland. Although the JCG requested his surrender through diplomatic channels, it was denied, and he was released in December.

The JCG will continue to renew the Japan’s arrest warrant and request Interpol to reissue the red notice.