Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson flees Germany, conservation group says
Canadian activist Paul Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has left Germany and is in an undisclosed location, according to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Watson, the society’s founder, was arrested in Germany in May in connection with an alleged high-seas altercation with a Costa Rican shark-finning vessel in 2002.
Watson was being detained in Germany for possible extradition to Costa Rica, according to the society.
An arrest warrant had recently been issued for the high-profile activist in Germany after he allegedly skipped bail, the Canadian Press reports.
“Captain Watson’s attorney reports he has left Germany,” Susan Hartland, administrative director of Sea Shepherd, said in a statement posted on the group’s website on July 25.
Watson had previously run afoul of the Japanese government because of alleged efforts to disrupt the country’s whale hunters.
“We have reason to believe from a reliable source that, once in Costa Rica, the Japanese Government may have sought extradition of Captain Watson to Japan to answer charges related to obstructing their illegal whaling activities in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,” Hartland said.
“We have no further information and are not in touch with him. We will do our best to provide more details as we learn more. We will post any new information as it arrives and we are able to confirm its validity."
Watson, in his early 60s, was a founder of the Greenpeace Foundation and is a former Georgia Straight contributor.
Comments
Paul Watson is a real and alive (for now) Canadian hero, yet he will never win an "Odor of BC" or "Odor of Canada", or have schools, runs, or festivals named after him.
We (Canada) ignore real hero's and instead cheer also rans to be role models. Paul Watson, a man of action, does what is needed to be done in a true Canadian fashion.
But his comments branding an entire nation as evil is absurd and for someone wanting innocent people to suffer from a tsunami is sickening.
Realitycheck has got a point too. Violence is just wrong. If Gandhi, Mandela, and Suu Kyi can succeed by non-violence then so can everyone else.
He is a Canadian citizen.
False Denuncia's (Criminal Charges) can be brought just on hearsay (2 witness statements)...that's all.
It is easily used by those with deep pockets to bring bogus charges subjecting the Defendant to arbitrary pre-trial detention for years before even a hearing.
Canadians should boycott Costa Rica don't support Corrupt Officials.
There have been Canadians butchered in Costa Rica beware.