Japan possibly contributing to Costa Rica’s charges against Paul Watson

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Adam Westlake in Features, National, Politics with 8 Comments
Japan possibly contributing to Costa Rica’s charges against Paul Watson

Paul Watson, the leader of the marine activist group Sea Shepherd, remains detained in Frankfurt, Germany over crimes committed in Costa Rica, and faces possible extradition to the Central American country. While he waits on bail for a formal decision to be made by the Costa Rican government, he is protesting that there are no grounds for charges, and his arrest is politically motivated, with a direct contribution from Japan.

The Sea Shepherd organization alleges that Japan, which has labeled Paul Watson as an “eco-terrorist” and requested that Interpol place him on their “wanted” list, has funded Costa Rica with roughly $9 million in order to get him extradited. Watson’s group has had numerous encounters with Japanese whaling ships, and goes to such as extremes as throwing stink bombs at the crews of the ships, or even trying to sink them by ramming them with his own boat.

Sea Shepherd points out that while he was originally arrested in Costa Rica back in 2002, extradition orders weren’t placed on Watson until October of 2011, which is the same time the Japanese government filed charges against him in a U.S. court. Watson also directs attention to the fact that Laura Chinchilla Miranda, Costa Rica’s president, met with Japan’s Emperor Akihito in November of 2011, and less than six months later a $9 million donation was made for Costa Rica to protect its national parks. The filing of charges by Costa Rica and the detainment in Germany are all a result of pressure from the Japanese government, Watson claims.

The 2002 crime is itself questionable, as Watson was charged ramming a boat, the Varadero I, and injuring two fisherman, a violation of navigational regulations. But Costa Rica still allowed him to leave the country. Sea Shepherd claims the incident never occurred in Costa Rican waters, there were never any injuries or damage done, and the men were actually illegally fishing for sharks, a crime they had previously been convicted of. While everything seems circumstantial at this point, on both sides of the argument, Paul Watson will have to remain in Germany for the time being, waiting for Costa Rica to file official paperwork.

[Via The Guardian]
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  • dontyouhateliarsandconartists

  • dontyouhateliarsandconartists

    The lack of interest in this dodgy unhinged group is evident, with any luck Mister Watson will simply fade away and do us all a favour, including the whales and all animals he professes to save.

  • LUCIANA

    SON OF A BITCH! Sometimes I think all the bad stuff that happen in Japan is mother Nature paying back!

  • dontyouhateliarsandconartists

    Luciana – your comment is sick, your blaming ‘son of a bitch’ for Japan’s natural dissasters? that makes no sense, who is the ‘son of a bitch’ your referring to ? How can you blame an entire race of people for the actions of a few, how can can you say Japan deserved their loss of life ? get over it, your not right in the head. There is one SOB who has treated people like scum for almost all of his life, he should be jailed. Paul Watson.. that’s you.

  • http://www.slashgear.com Ewdison Then

    Paul Watson has no regards for human safety. There are better way to protect natures than endangering other human being.

  • Ted

    Luciana – that is quite uncalled for. Your comments are cold and shameful.

    I guess when New Orleans flooded out and killed all those people a few years ago, you probably said “Well, that’s Nature getting the USA back for not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.”

    The simple fact is that many people died in Japan, including young children who probably only knew whales as a cute plastic toy they played with during bath time.
    If you believe Paul Watson’s statements that very few people eat whale in Japan, then it means most people are not involved in the problem. Therefore, most of the people that died in the tsunamis had nothing at all to do with the whale issue, because they didn’t eat whale meat.
    Next time you decide to make a comment like that, take a moment to be thankful that it is not *you* pulling your dead child out of the water while hearing some stranger tell you that Nature killed her because you use electricity, which pollutes the atmosphere.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Erik-Eriksen/100001012685267 Erik Eriksen

    luciana is just ANOTHER example of the devotees of Cap’n Fatso.

  • http://www.facebook.com/terry.dalton.359 Terry Dalton

    It might be better if the money spent chasing the Japanese whaling fleet all over the world be used to drag em to the Hauge and stop the whole thing in the world court. Then we would not need to see the stupid TV show…..