One week ago, Monika Hund demonstrated for the first time. This week, the 63-year-old traveled to Denmark to make the government listen.
Tuesday, activists gathered outside of the Danish parliament to protest the arrest of Paul Watson, a Canadian-American anti-whaling activist. Among them were members of the animal rights organization We The Free.
– He may be sent to Japan and could be facing up to 15 years of prison, says leader of We The Free Sweden, Alessandro Ardovini.
Watson was arrested on 21 July. The arrest it was made based on an international arrest warrant, issued by Japan in 2012. The arrest order accuses Watson of damages, obstruction of business and injuring a crew member, all on a new industrial whaler, a ship that hunts and kill whales for meat. The encounter happened in 2010.
With megaphone in hand
Ardovini started a branch of We The Free in Sweden with his wife, Ester Galeote Nadal, and together they traveled to Denmark to protest the possible Danish extradition of Paul Watson to Japan.
– I stopped eating meat ten years ago and have been protesting injustice to animals as long as I can remember. I wanted to stay true to my values and words.
With a megaphone in his hands, Ardovini yells “free Paul Watson, save the whales” to the square outside of Danish parliament.
– We know what’s happening to the food industry, and especially whaling. It’s animal cruelty.
The Swede fears what could happen to Watson if he’s sent to Japan for imprisonment.
– Japan wants to imprison Watson for 15 years. Since he’s 73 years old, that could mean the rest of his life, says Ardovini.
A new activist
People from all over the world is protesting the arrest of Watson, Ardovini tells. One such person is 63-year-old Monica Hund.
– I’ve loved sea mammals my entire life, she says with a smile.
This week Hund is has taken a few days of her work as a veterinarian, to protest in Copenhagen.
– On Saturday I attended the first demonstration of my life in Berlin, she says.
Hund says she has always enjoyed diving and has dived alongside whales.
– I had to stand up for Paul Watson, he is one of the few that fight for the whales. And after the demonstration in Germany, I decided I had to come here as well.
Thus, after work on Monday, she set out on a five-hour journey from her home in Hamburg to Copenhagen.
– I despise taking out holiday, but the demonstration on Saturday lit a spark, she tells, and adds:
– This is my last chance to do something.
She argues that the imprisonment of Paul Watson contradicts he Danish Government’s “claims of protecting the animals”.
– Watson has never hurt someone. The earth is dying. We should all be embarrassed not to do the same as him.
Watson defends his innocence
Paul Watson himself also insist he has done nothing wrong. In an interview with AFP, he says his protest organization do non-violence interference.
– There is no contradiction between aggressive and non-violence – it means that I will try and get the knife from the person trying to kill a whale, but I won’t hurt them, he argues.
Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace, but parted ways from the organization in 1977, over disagreement over his radical tactics as an activist.
– In 1974, my objective was to eradicate whaling, and I hope to do that before I die, he tells AFP.
Japan does not have a formal extradition treaty with Denmark, complicating the process further. Watson remains in custody until 5 September, when a decision is made, according to AFP.
DMJX has reached out to the Danish government with questions about what the foreign minister and prime minister think about the arrest and critical voices who claim an extradition to Japan is unjust and inhuman. As of today, they have yet to answer our questions.
This article is made for a Norwegian audience, and could be published on NRK.no. NRK writes both international and local news, and Norway has been one of the leading countries in whaling for many years, and also the subject to many of Watson’s protests.