Sea Shepherd’s Paul Watson says he is no longer wanted in Germany

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Ida Torres in Features, National with 6 Comments
Sea Shepherd’s Paul Watson says he is no longer wanted in Germany

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson can cross Germany off his “Cannot visit” list. According to him, the country has canceled the warrant for his arrest, because the Costa Rican government failed to meet the deadline for an explanation asked by the government.

Watson’s legal troubles have been well-documented by the media, including skipping bail in Germany for fear of being extradited to Japan where he fears he will never be released. The arrest warrant issued in Germany was due to Costa Rica’s accusations of interfering with their fishing vessels, which Sea Shepherd says was an illegal shark-finning operation.

But even if he no longer is wanted in Germany, he says he will remain at sea where he has been for seven months now, unless Australia assures him that he will not be sent to Japan. The Japanese government has accused Watson and Sea Shepherd of interfering with their whaling operations and their ships have been involved in skirmishes during the season, notably a collision between vessels last month. Interpol has put him on their red list, which is the closest thing to an “international arrest warrant” there is, and usually reserved for serial killers and war criminals. So Watson says unless he can get that guarantee from Australia, he has “secret arrangements” to remain at sea.

Watson says that Sea Shepherd’s anti-whaling campaign has been effectively successful this season, saying that less than 100 whales were killed. Their ships the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker and the Sam Simon will be docking in Australia soon, but probably without Watson on board.

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[ via NZ City ]
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  • RP

    Japan using it’s International political influence to put an innocent conservationist into prison. Germany decided it will no longer play this game with Japan.

    What has not been discussed is how Japan paid Costa Rica to vote in their favor as a member of the IWC.

    The entire Interpol Red notice for Paul Watson was completely political and Japan will do most anything to punish Paul Watson for causing the Japanese officials at the ICR to loose face and suffer the shame of failure.

    • AA

      Before trotting out this rubbish, I think you had to confirm the Costa Rican position in the IWC.

      • es5528fei

        off yourself thx

  • ddpalmer

    So if he skipped out of Germany because he was afraid they would hold him for extradition to Japan, and since the German warrant that was cancelled was based on a Costa Rican warrant. So wouldn’t he still be liable for arrest and extradition to Japan? Meaning Germany is still a “Cannot visit” country. Just like every country that pays attention to Interpol Red Notices is still on his “Cannot visit” list aren’t they?

    • Hayashi

      I don’t understand what you mean, he is on the Interpol list because he skipped bail right?
      He is no longer wanted in Germany, so doesn’t that mean he is clear in Germany?
      No doubt Japan is a powerful enemy, I would imagine there are many countries under strong pressure from Japan, so Interpol list or not, there are many places he probably shouldn’t go. I also think that even if the whale war ends regardless of who wins, Japan would probably keep going after him.

      I’m pretty upset about Costa Rica, because if they felt that Watson’s supposed crimes were so terrible why didn’t they follow up and explain it? Not doing so sends the message that perhaps they were never that serious in the first place. Interpol is a serious organization used to catch serious criminals, at least as serious as murders and war criminals, it’s not a tool for petty crimes, either you want the guy or you don’t. So what’s the deal here? Does Costa Rica want him or not ? If not, I think Costa Rica owes an explaination.
      Off topic, but I would say that when you think of the sort of life Paul has to live, it’s difficult for me to believe he is doing it just for the money.

      • ddpalmer

        No. He is on the Interpol list twice, once because of the charges against him in Costa Rica and again because of charges against him in Japan. The skipping bail in Germany was a minor crime which never lead to a request to Interpol for any kind of notice.

        The warrant in Germany expired but there are still two Interpol Red Notices, so Germany still has an obligation to inform Japan and Costa Rica if he enters the country and then they both have to decide whether to ask Germany to detain him and seek extradition.

        I don’t know why Costa Rica didn’t follow up, but me guess would be that he was no longer in Germany so Germany could no longer extradite him so continuing the case there was a moot point. I mean do you expect Costa Rica to go to court in every country in the world to prove their case just on the off chance that Paul Watson might enter that country? Does it make more sense to only spend the time, money and effort on a court case in a country where he actually is and where the results of the case would actually have an effect?

        I don’t understand why Paul decides to do what he does either. But then again I don’t often understand why people having mental problems do what they do.