反捕鯨団体創設者、勾留延長の審理へ　弁護団「すでに十分過ぎる」

【コペンハーゲンＡＦＰ＝時事】デンマーク自治領グリーンランドで先月逮捕され、日本が身柄引き渡しを求める反捕鯨団体「シー・シェパード」の創設者、ポール・ワトソン容疑者（７３）は１５日、勾留延長に関する審理に臨む。（写真は、勾留されている反捕鯨団体「シー・シェパード」の創設者ポール・ワトソン容疑者の釈放を求める同団体の支持者ら。パリで）
　グリーンランドの政庁所在地ヌークの地方裁判所が、勾留期間を最大４週間延長する事由の有無について判断する。
　警察は「したがって２０２４年８月１５日の審理では、身柄を引き渡しの是非についての問題は扱われない」と説明。
　日本に身柄を引き渡すかどうかは、最終的にデンマーク司法省に委ねられ、独立して判断される。
　弁護人の一人、ヨナス・クリストファーセン氏は１２日の記者会見で、それでも日本への身柄引き渡しは審理で議論されるとの見方を示し、「まず、身柄引き渡しをめぐる審理中は勾留すべきだと指摘されるだろう。そうでなければ、出国する恐れがあるからだ」と述べた。
　弁護団は勾留延長に関する審理で、ワトソン容疑者がすでに、疑いを掛けられている犯罪に対して不当に長い勾留期間を過ごしていると主張する方針だ
　クリストファーセン氏は「すでに過ごした３週間で十分過ぎるので、これ以上延長することはできないと主張するつもりだ」と述べた。
　シー・シェパードのラミヤ・エセムラリ仏支部長はワトソン容疑者について、活動歴を考えると日本による寛大な処罰は期待できず、年齢を考慮すると残りの人生を刑務所で過ごす可能性が高いとの見解を示した上で、「日本への引き渡しは絶対に避けたい。引き渡されたら、生きて出国できないと分かっているからだ」と訴えた。
　弁護人の一人、フランソワ・ジムレ氏も１２日、日本の刑事司法制度を批判。「日本では有罪と推定される。検察は有罪率が９９．６％だと誇っている」と主張した。
　ワトソン容疑者の逮捕を受けて、釈放を求める抗議デモが相次いで行われた。
　仏大統領府（エリゼ宮）も、ワトソン容疑者の身柄を日本に引き渡さないようデンマーク当局に求めている。ワトソン容疑者は米国とカナダの二重国籍だが、この１年はフランスに居住していた。
　ワトソン容疑者は、日本の要請を受けて国際刑事警察機構（インターポール）が２０１２年に発行した「赤手配書」に基づき逮捕された。２０１０年に南極海で日本の捕鯨船に対する妨害行為を指示したとして、海上保安庁が傷害と威力業務妨害の疑いで逮捕状を取得、国際手配していた。 【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/08/14-16:27）

American-Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, arrested in July in Greenland, will face a judge Thursday who will rule on his continued detention as a possible extradition requested by Japan looms.
The district court in Nuuk -- the capital of the autonomous Danish territory -- will rule on whether there is cause to extend his detention for up to another four weeks.
The hearing on August 15, 2024 will therefore not deal with the question of whether or not to extradite him, police said in a statement.
The decision on whether he will be extradited to Japan, which ultimately will be up to the Danish Ministry of Justice, will be taken independently.
Nevertheless, it will still be discussed at the hearing, his lawyer Jonas Christoffersen told a press conference on Monday.
As a starting point, you would say that a person should be detained during the extradition case, because otherwise there could be a risk that the person would leave, Christoffersen said.
Watson, who featured in the reality TV series Whale Wars, founded Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), and is known for radical tactics including confrontations with whaling ships at sea.
The 73-year-old campaigner was arrested on July 21 when the ship John Paul DeJoria docked in Nuuk to refuel.
- 'Red Notice' -
The vessel was on its way to intercept a new Japanese whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the CPWF.
Watson was arrested on the basis of a 2012 Interpol Red Notice after Japan accused him of causing damage to one of its whaling ships in the Antarctic two years earlier and causing injury.
Only Japan, Iceland and Norway allow commercial whaling.
Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd's French branch, has told AFP that Watson believes his arrest to be political, with Japan wanting him because he is a political symbol.
Essemlali explained Monday that the arrest warrant had been made confidential and was no longer listed on Interpol's website, and Watson would otherwise not have stopped in Nuuk.
All this was orchestrated. After all, 14 federal police officers and a Danish public prosecutor were put on a direct plane to Greenland to arrest Paul.
Japan asked Danish authorities to extradite him at the end of July.
In Japan, Watson faces a charge of causing injury, which can carry up to 15 years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 yen ($3,300).
He also faces a charge of forcible obstruction of business, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.
- 'Presumption of guilt' -
At the upcoming hearing in Nuuk, Watson's lawyers intend to argue the detention he has already been subjected to is not proportional to the offence of which he is suspected.
We will argue that the three weeks that have passed is more than enough and you can't extend it further than that, Christoffersen said.
With Watson's history of activism, Essemlali said that Japan would not be lenient, and given his age he would likely spend the rest of his life incarcerated.
We absolutely want to avoid his extradition to Japan, because we know that if he is extradited to Japan, he won't get out alive, Essemlali said.
Francois Zimeray, another one of Watson's lawyers, also blasted the Japanese legal system on Monday.
In Japan, there is a presumption of guilt and the prosecutors are proud to announce that they have a 99.6 percent conviction rate, Zimeray said.
Watson's arrest has sparked a series of protests calling for his release.
French President Emmanuel Macron's office has asked Denmark not to extradite the activist, who has lived in France for the past year.