Paul Watson asked for it. The charismatic, white-maned founder of the Sea Shepherd association, who is still the subject of an arrest warrant from Japan, should be able to stay in France with his entire family.
He had an appointment at Police Headquarters on Friday 28 November and on that occasion he had to obtain a residence permit, specifically a “CST visitor”. These securities will allow him to stay in the territory for one renewable year.
“The good news is that his family, wife and children will also be protected,” explained his lawyer, Maître Emmanuel Ludot. “I hope so, I’m waiting for next Friday” confirms Paul Watson in a cheerful voice, reached by telephone while he was participating in a diving conference in Hyères (Var).
Last September, his application for political asylum was rejected by Ofpra, France’s Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons. The activist denounced the “political decision” on our page.
President Emmanuel Macron got his feet wet by giving his “personal assurances” to find a solution, including during a world conference in Nice, on television, on air. “I was sure he would do it,” recalled the ocean defender, attributing the emerging solution to the Élysée’s commitment.
Paul Watson recalls the threats that still weigh on him: “Japan tried to extradite me by contacting various countries. I came back from Brazil (where he participated in the COP), I know that the Brazilian authorities refuse to do so.”
This threat was not a dummy threat, this summer Paul Watson was captured on July 21st in Greenland while he was on his way with his ship, the “John Paul DeJoria”, to intercept a giant Japanese whaling ship. He remained detained there for five months.
