Celebrity conservationist Paul Watson filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Costa Rica before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging politically-motivated criminal charges.
Paul Watson is fed up with Costa Rica’s attempts to prosecute him. For 13 years, this tiny Central American country that promotes itself as a model of environmental responsibility has tried to put the bushy-haired marine conservationist in jail over an incident that occurred in 2002 in Guatemalan waters.
Ocean conservationist and Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson started a social media campaign Monday asking followers to write to Costa Rica's new president, Luis Guillermo Solís, and urge that an extradition request be dropped.
Environmental activist and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Paul Watson on Wednesday congratulated Citizens Action Party candidate Luis Guillermo Solís and called him “Costa Rica’s next president.”
The well-known conservationist was on land barely a week in the United States when Costa Rica filed a formal request to have him sent back to Central America to face charges from a 2002 incident.
In a Thursday post on his Facebook, conservationist and founder of Sea Shepherd Paul Watson said an Interpol red alert issued by Costa Rica, which prompted his arrest in Germany in May 2012, has been dropped. A spokeswoman for Costa Rica's judicial system, which is handling Watson's case, denied Watson's statement, saying, "Everything remains the same."
Costa Rican officials are sticking to their initial storyline that the murder of Tico turtle conservationist Jairo Mora was carried out by a band of thieves and turtle poachers. Paul Watson thinks officials are lying. On Wednesday, Rainforest Radio's Jani Schulz will find out why.
Costa Rican officials announced Tuesday that Paul Watson may voluntarily return to Costa Rica to face charges of attempted shipwrecking and endangerment at sea.
The arrest in Germany last weekend of marine conservationist Paul Watson, of the Sea Shepperd organization, has outraged environmentalists around the world. Watson faces charges of attempted shipwrecking stemming from a 2002 incident off the Guatemalan coast.
Costa Rica's public healthcare system is evaluating medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy to treat diabetes and obesity. The CCSS has not announced when the drugs might become available or which patients would qualify.
More than 6,000 Europeans paid about 200 million Swiss francs for teak trees on 60 Costa Rica plantations. The seller is bankrupt and Swiss prosecutors are investigating.
