Emmanuel Macron's presidential office has urged Denmark not to extradite the arrested environmental activist Paul Watson to Japan.
Watson was arrested on Greenland on Sunday after Japan issued an international warrant. He is to be detained until August 15, when the Danish Ministry of Justice will decide whether to extradite him.
Japan issued an arrest warrant for Watson in 2010 in connection with an incident in Antarctica where he allegedly damaged Japanese whalers and their property.
The 73-year-old American-Canadian, founder of the environmental organization Sea Shepherd, has lived in France in recent years. A petition demanding that Macron request his release has gathered 388,000 signatures. The 89-year-old film legend Brigitte Bardot has also become involved in the case.
