Japan had asked Denmark to extradite Watson, who had been in custody in Greenland since his arrest this summer.

Animal rights activist Paul Watson, freed this week from detention in Denmark, vowed on Saturday to end whale hunting worldwide and to stop Japan if it tried to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Mr. Watson was facing extradition to Japan but was released after Denmark decided to reject the extradition request, his lawyer said.

Freed anti-whaling activist Paul Watson on Friday arrived in France after five months in detention in Greenland pending an extradition demand from Japan, an airport source told AFP. Watson, 74, was released on Tuesday after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over a 2010 clash with whalers.

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson was freed from prison in Greenland on Tuesday and will not be extradited to Japan, the Danish Justice Ministry and defense lawyers said.

Watson was released on Tuesday after five months of detention in Greenland as Denmark considered whether to extradite him to Japan.

Paul Watson, an anti-whaling activist who featured on the television show Whale Wars, was arrested in Greenland earlier this year under a Japanese arrest warrant.

After five months in a prison in Greenland, Captain Paul Watson is a free man. He was arrested under an international warrant issued by Japan. The post Captain Paul Watson, Anti-Whaling Activist, Free After 5 Months in Danish Prison first appeared on The Inertia.

Watson, 74, was released after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over a 2010 clash with whalers.