Paul Watson arrested on Costa Rican warrant
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2012:
Paul Watson arrested on Costa Rican warrant
FRANKFURT–Season five of the Animal Planet series Whale Wars, following the exploits of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in confrontation with Japanese whalers off Antarctica, debuted on June 1, 2012 with Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson awaiting an extradition hearing in Germany. Watson was arrested in Frankfurt on May 13, 2012 on a 10-year-old Costa Rican warrant as he tried to board a flight to attend the Cannes film festival in France.
The warrant was issued after the Sea Shepherds intercepted a Costa Rican vessel that was allegedly catching sharks, cutting off their fins for sale to Asian buyers, and tossing the rest of the still living sharks overboard. Video of the incident appeared in the 2007 Rob Stewart documentary Sharkwater.
The Guatemalan government sent a gunboat to obtain the release of the fishing vessel, while Costa Rica charged Watson with attempted murder.
Watson has alleged that the charges were originally an extortion attempt, and that the warrant was revived through the influence of the Japanese government.
