Paul Watson

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.

He was there, then he wasn't, now he is again.

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.

Interpol’s alert states that all inquiries on Watson “should be directed to Costa Rican authorities.”

The Japanese government also asked Germany to arrest Watson.