Paul Watson jailed in Frankfurt in response to 10-year-old incident involving sharks
Former Georgia Straight contributor Paul Watson is cooling his heels in a German prison cell.
The founder of the Sea Shepherd Society, Captain Paul Watson, has been arrested in Germany.
According to a statement on the environmental group's website, German police jailed Watson in Frankfurt "in response to an alleged violation of ships traffic in Costa Rica, which occurred during the filming of Sharkwater in 2002".
"The specific 'violation of ships traffic' incident took place on the high seas in Guatemalan waters, when Sea Shepherd encountered an illegal shark finning operation, run by a Costa Rican ship called the Varadero," the group stated. "On order of the Guatemalan authorities, Sea Shepherd instructed the crew of the Varadero to cease their shark finning activities and head back to port to be prosecuted. While escorting the Varadero back to port, the tables were turned and a Guatemalan gunboat was dispatched to intercept the Sea Shepherd crew."
Watson and the director of Sharkwater, Rob Stewart, were both born in Toronto, and for a while, Watson was a writer with the Georgia Straight.
Sea Shepherd is working on a strategy with Shark Savers and Shark Angels to plan a global campaign in 2012 to prevent the extinction of these creatures.
"Conservationists around the world maintain hope that the Costa Ricans will drop the charges against Captain Watson," Sea Shepherd declared. "There is also a chance that the charges have already been dropped, but Sea Shepherd has been unable to confirm that with the Costa Rican officials. With Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity, it would be a travesty for them not to stand up for sharks, which sit at the highest levels of the food chain assuring balance among ecological communities in the ocean."
According to the environmental group, Watson is being helped by European Parliament vice president Daniel Cohn-Bendit and European deputy Jose Bové.
Bové, like Watson, has been involved in direct action in the past, gaining international attention in 2002 when he was sentenced to three months in jail for his role in the destruction of a McDonald's restaurant in France.
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.
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