"Justice Delayed is Justice
Denied"
Written by Captain Paul Watson
inside Nuuk Prison
October 2, 2024
Today is my 73rd day of
incarceration in Nuuk prison and it was my 4th
appearance in the Greenland court. It was what I
expected, the judge refused documentation and arguments
from my defense team and ordered me detained for an
additional 28 days. That means 91 days on a bogus
accusation on a very minor offense from 14 years ago for
something I did not participate in.
It's a classic case of “Justice
delayed is Justice denied”.
The court has all the evidence,
they have all the information needed to make a decision.
It is clearly quite political.
The judge sat the bench like a
stone
Evidence he denied to be
shown
The prosecutor scowled
With contempt for the
crowd
Her bias reflected in her
tone
And so my friends it’s back to my
cell with a view, where I can see the icebergs in the
fjord and the occasional breach of a humpback whale to
remind me why I am here.
I can endure the time for however
long it takes. My only concern, my only regret is
separation from my wife and our two little boys. I am
not here because I am a criminal. I am here for opposing
a criminal enterprise with the most deadly of weapons –
a camera.
With our cameras we exposed the
crimes of the Japanese whaling industry and in so doing,
we embarrassed the proud nation of Japan, bringing their
unlawful activities into the living rooms of millions of
people around the world with our Animal Planet
television show “Whale Wars”.
Japanese whaling is not a
criminal enterprise because I say so. It is a criminal
operation for violating the 1986 International Whaling
Commission’s Global Moratorium on Commercial Whaling.
Japan’s argument of it being a research effort and
non-commercial was shut down in 2014 by the world’s
highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
in the Hague. This ruled that slaughtering whales in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was not research. It is
commercial.
The whalers went to sea you
see,
To see how many whales to
kill, you see
We caught them in the
act
An indisputable fact
And drove them from the sea,
you see
In addition, the Japanese whalers
deliberately rammed and destroyed a two million (US)
dollar catamaran, broke the rib of an Animal Planet
cameraman, pitching 6 crewmembers into the frigid waters
of the Southern Ocean, refusing to rescue them. In the
face of the documented violence, the whalers suffered no
consequences. When the Greenlandic prosecutor claims
that a single Japanese whaler suffered a blister on his
cheek, from the chemical pepper spray from his own crew,
something she describes as a crime of severity, it
illustrates the almost comical absurdity of the charges.
What she claims is trespassing is
captured on film showing Pete Bethune politely knocking
on the wheelhouse door of the Shonan Maru,
the door opens, he hands the Japanese captain a letter
of complaint and a request for compensation for the ship
they deliberately destroyed. The Japanese response was
to kidnap captain Bethune and to transport him to Japan
to charge him with trespassing, obstruction of business,
and assault. He was interrogated daily until he
confessed to the charges although he refused to confess
to assault.
It was only after a coerced
confession was he brought before a judge where a deal
was made. A suspended sentence in exchange for a
statement that I ordered him to take these actions. He
was then released and allowed to return home and a
warrant was issued against me for conspiracy.
After his release, Pete Bethune
signed an affidavit stating he lied in exchange for the
suspended sentence. His accusation was the sole evidence
that Japan used against me, but despite the retraction
by captain Bethune, the Japanese prosecutor refused to
drop the charges against me.
The whalers sliced his boat in
two
Our cameras have proved this
true
Pete Bethune was
kidnapped
The evidence was
scrapped
By the criminal whaling
crew
What makes my incarceration
bearable is the tremendous worldwide support I am
receiving. Hundreds of thousands of names signing
petitions for my release. So many demonstrations in
hundreds of places around the globe, thousands of calls
to the Danish Embassies and Consulates, the support of
world leaders like President Macron of France and
President Lula of Brazil, numerous celebrities, concerts
held on my behalf. Such an incredible outpouring of love
and support all brought together by our collective love
and respect for whales and dolphins, diversity and
interdependence of all life in the sea and on land.
The enemy has been clearly
identified
Five thousand people from many
a state
Protesting with actions,
petitions and art
All united in opposing
cetacide
It’s compassion we seek to
instigate
Fired by courage born deep in
the heart.
I am so very grateful for the
2,300 letters I have received in prison from over 30
countries. I am especially grateful and very much
touched by the hundreds of letters from children, many
accompanied with drawings of whales or poems.
Every poem, every drawing of a
whale
Sent by children from around
the Ocean
Delivered here behind this
prison wall
Provides a storm of hope to
fill my soul
Unleashing a tsunami of
emotion
From across the blue shroud I
hear them call.
I am in this prison cell for
another four weeks, so please continue to raise your
voices. It means a great deal and it is effective.
Please continue to contact Danish Embassies and
Consulates. And please continue to send me your letters,
drawings and poems. The prison guards tell me they have
never seen anyone receive so much mail and your letters
very much reflect the level of support. It also keeps me
busy because I read every piece of mail. I try to answer
as many as I can although it has been difficult because
I am still recovering from the handcuff injury to my
writing hand (my left hand). However, when I am
released, I will answer every letter with a certificate
of appreciation for your support. You all give me
strength.
A very special thank you to Lamya
Essemlali, the President of Sea Shepherd France, to
Elodie, and Christelle for making the numerous trips
from France to Nuuk, Greenland. They have been with me
for every court appearance. Thank you also to Nathalie
Gil, the President of Sea Shepherd Brazil, who made the
long trip from Brazil to attend one of my appearances.
Thank you to Rod Marining, who along with myself was a
co-founder of Greenpeace. He journeyed all the way from
Vancouver to visit me. Thanks also for the visits from
Omar Todd, Kylie Herd, and Rob Read from the Captain
Paul Watson Foundation for making the long trip to visit
me. Thanks to Locky MacLean and Dior for visiting me and
the crew of the John Paul DeJoria for
attending my first court appearance. Thanks to
Vakita from France, Nat Geo from the USA,
and other film crews from Denmark, France, and the UK
for visiting and interviewing me in this prison.
My Nordic jail cell has an
amazing view,
Of the wild wide fjord that
lies before me
Studded with jagged bergy bits
of ice
Where great whales breach upon
the Ocean blue
Happy and free in the
Greenlandic sea
A wondrous site worthy of
sacrifice.
Captain Paul Watson
Nuuk Prison,
Greenland
