Reported as
Sea Shepherd leader arrested by thetelegraph.com.au:
THE controversial Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson has apparently been arrested in Germany and could be facing extradition to the Central American nation of Costa Rica over the ramming and water-canon attack on a commercial shark fishing ship a decade ago.
Costa Rican media are reporting Watson, labelled an eco-terrorist for his anti-whaling campaigns, is facing attempted murder charges for ramming and then attacking the fishing ship as it was disabled and adrift.
Sea Shepherd asserts it's all a big misunderstanding of some sort. Their version is
here:
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. The crew of the Varadero accused the Sea Shepherds of trying to kill them, while the video evidence proves this to be a fallacy. To avoid the Guatemalan gunboat, Sea Shepherd then set sail for Costa Rica . . .
When
last heard from the vessel involved in this incident,
Farley Mowat (pictured above), had been arrested by the Canadian government and then sold to cover a portion of its berthing fees.
The delayed arrest unmasks a nuanced contrast, one could say, in attitude toward homicidal pirates based far away and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society operating as a non-profit headquartered in the United States.
ReplyDeleteDon't letters of marque demand, well, a letter? I don't see how some unnamed "official" could authorize a civilian vessel, with no legal standing for arrest or seizure, to engage another civilian vessel. Even the Navy requires Coast Guard LEO detachments to engage in such arrest actions under most circumstances. That they took off to avoid a Guatamalan gun boat, after being "ordered" to engage by a nebulous Guatamaln official argues that either the authority exceeded their own authority, or never existed in the first place.
ReplyDeleteLike the commercial says: people have to risk their lives to stroke Paul Watson's ego....