A Message from Captain Paul Watson inside Nuuk Prison (2024)

“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 that he was 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

To send letters to Paul in prison, please address them to:

Anstalten Prison
c/o Paul Watson
Nuuk, Greenland
DK-3900

Click here to sign the Petition.

Click here for other ways to help #freepaulwatson.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT