In Greenland, the longtime anti-whaling and environmental activist Paul Watson has been released from a Danish-run jail after authorities rejected a request by Japan to extradite him. Watson was arrested in July as his ship docked in Greenland before setting off to the North Pacific on a mission to intercept a Japanese whaling vessel. Watson co-founded Greenpeace and is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which takes nonviolent direct action to protect the worlds’ oceans and marine life. Paul Watson spoke to reporters from Greenland’s capital Nuuk after his release on Tuesday.

Paul Watson: “I’m very thankful that the president and the former prime minister of France have been extremely helpful. The president of Brazil has been — you know, intervened. Bernie Sanders, my senator, has actually been very helpful. The U.S. Embassy has been very, very helpful also. But really, the public pressure from all over the world — you know, I’ve received over 4,000 letters while I’ve been in prison — has been really overwhelming.”

If extradited to Japan, Watson faced a possible sentence of up to 15 years in prison.