Anti-whaling leader says extraditing him won't halt campaign

Now on this one, huh? Okay. Cool.

It wasn't trash talk, see the tape. Fact is he would be killed by the Costa Rican mafia if he were to go to jail there. It wouldn't get to court. But of course, he must be mindful and question is such a thing is possible.

But let's look at his statement in its entirety not in the bits and pieces that you have copied and pasted together, PAUL.

Here is what it says. Although I have no reason to believe that the Costa Rican legal system would not give me a fair trial, my concern is not for the judicial system, but for the reality that the shark fin mafia of Costa Rica has a price on my head and a Costa Rican prison would provide an excellent opportunity for someone to exercise this lethal contract against me,” he said.

His concern is for his safety and for good reason. He didn't take pop shots at the Costa Rican judiciary system at all like you just said. He just said how peculiar the timing was. And nobody can disagree with that. Ten years later a case that had been completely dropped comes up at the same time the J-gov officials file charges in Seattle. And, yes up to this point they have lost the injunction.

No, the Costa Rican illegal poachers have nothing to say, because they were in Guatemalan waters, illegally without a permit. Does a burglar have a case? NOPE. That what they were and why you will never hear anything from them.

sending him to jail wont change anything all it will do is make great publicity and attract more volunteers, more money, more boats, whalers the misery has just begun, LOL .

Sending another check off to the Sea Shepherds today...

The idea of a moratorium on whales or any animal is to let their stocks recover. Finning is a shocking waste and cruelty beyond belief. Like catching dogs and cutting off their tongues because u don't like dogs barking. Wakey, wakey...world.

Arrest Paul and what have u done to save the depletion and pollution of our oceans - complain about someone triyng their best to get answers. If they just talked none would listen - perfect example is japan as it is not private citizens but the government doing the harm. And it is Not an attempt to kill the crews ofcourse if they wanted to kill them they would just kill them ofcourse.

To the people who gave the negative ratings

*Disabling a ship at sea in the Antarctic, regardless of how much one may object to its activities, is not only a callous act of disregard for human life

We differ with Paul Watson on what constitutes violence. He states that nobody has ever been harmed by a Sea Shepherd action. But the test of non-violence is the nature of your action, not whether harm results or not. There are many acts of violence -- for example, holding a gun to someone's head -- which result in no harm. That doesn't change their nature. We believe that throwing butryic acid at the whalers, dropping cables to foul their props, and threatening to ram them in the freezing waters of the Antarctic constitutes violence because of the potential consequences. The fact that the consequences have not been realized is irrelevant.*

Greenpeace, December 2008

Do German authorities have anything to say about Watson's pending extradition? Do Costa Rican authorities have any information about Watson's pending extradition? Do the Costa Rican fisherman have anything to add to this story?

@Guy-jin Your personal opinion of him and open disdain are not important matters here. Hey. I was in the military before and it is not that hard to fire a gun at a moving target from a ship at all. What do you think all of those guns on military ship are for?

The video of which you speak is neither here nor there. I have never seen the video myself but it does not matter. If you want to join the fray, provide proof, as often times my opponents on the pro-whaling side do. If not, then hurl insulting comments at the TV. We are talking about a serious issue here and a lot of spend a lot of time verifying and producing proof to back up our claims. Thank you.

When you accuse someone or something, you better have solid proof and evidence to back it up. Speculation is not highly regarded these days.

Where is my proof that the Costa Rican Mafia would like nothing better than to get there hands on the Admirable Captain Watson? Think about it. He has cost them a lot of money. My head is not in the sand. And anyone who thinks about it for themselves will also come to that conclusion. I know that you are not going to tell me that the Mafia would not love to get their hands on him after all of the money he has cost them. You can't be that naive.

If this so-called Costa Rican Mafia wanted his head, they would of done so already before in other countries where Watson had visited. This is called common sense.

No need to do such a thing. The Guatemalans have never said anything to the contrary. The poachers made a false claim that they were trying to kill them. Gun ships responded immediately and they usually don't respond by throwing flowers in the air. There are lots of reason for cutting and running. You must not know much about Central America at all. And the Guatemalans never, ever pursued any kind of prosecution against him. That is what happened. Believe it or don't. End of story.

Sam,

The full quote is:

Disabling a ship at sea in the Antarctic, regardless of how much one may object to its activities, is not only a callous act of disregard for human life -- it's courting an environmental disaster in one of the most fragile environments in the world.

I didn't post the rest as I didn't feel that it was relevant.

does it mean flght until death (?)

and if I am prevented from serving on the front lines upon the high seas I will serve as a symbol of resistance...

How humble of Watson to see himself as "A Symbol of Resistance" (que trumpets). And all this time, I thought he was just another human.

Maybe the Costa Rican trial will find you guilty Paul. But don't worry, all you have to do is pay the fine and hope to hell they don't attach the boats.

Sea Shepard didn't try to kill anyone so far they use stink bombs and blocking movements hardly life threatening. If they threatened anyone it would hardly be enough to warrant extradition measures

You should read Greenpeace's opinion on him.

Although I have no reason to believe that the Costa Rican legal system would not give me a fair trial,

"It may be more than coincidental that the extradition order was put out in October 2011 at around the same time that the Japanese brought civil charges against us - and lost - in a Seattle court," he said.

Hahahaha. One moment he says the Costa Rican legal system is fair and the next moment he suggest the Costa Rican legal system is corrupt. I'm sure trash talk like that will make the Costa Rican's try even harder to land this great big liar.

The charges in the U.S. are still pending. Only a PRE-liminary injunction was denied.

@ihopetoeat........

His concern is to go to prison for his crimes.

No, his concern is being killed in prison by the mafia and with good reason. I take it this would be something that would give you delight. But if he is killed, it will just bolster everyone else's resolve to stop both finning and whaling. So, watch out. That is not what your side needs.

Costa Rica and the world want justice.

I'm sorry, but this one was pretty funny for me. It is only you guys, who seem to be siding with the illegal poachers who are of mafia nature, who have lost money, once again that word, MONEY, who want justice. And you I and everyone else, know, him going to a Costa Rican prison would not be justice, it would be a death penalty. Not sure you want that. Oh, that comment. I love it. THE WORLD WANTS JUSTICE. No, you guys just want the guy out of the picture so more money can be made at the expense of the seas. Also such practices do not benefit loads of people who actually eat shark in other countries. Ah, money wins, compassion drools I guess.

He wants to stay at a suite in Hilton hotel with Internet and good restaurant.

WOW! Wild speculation here. I need facts from you. Not speculation about what he wants to eat or where he wants to stay.

ihope2eatwhales - arrestpaul, Costa Rican officials said the ecoterrorist may try to avoid extradition process by visiting Costa Rica by himself.

They must be careful, because of his history of ignoring court dates. He could use such a chance to flee to his haven of Australia.

The leader of the eco-terrorist SS always had the option to turn himself in to Costa Rica authorities. He refused so the Costa Ricans had to hunt him down.

I assume that the Costa Rican official had been asked by a reporter what Watson could do to avoid extradition. Since Watson has a long, established history of lying and fleeing the scene of his criminal activity, I doubt that the German court system will allow him that option.

wtfjapan - sending him to jail wont change anything all.....

Except for the fact that Watson will be in jail. Maybe Costa Rica will only fine him? And then throw him in jail.

What is the possible sentence for trying to kill someone from Costa Rica on a Costa Rica flagged vessel? 10 years for every crewman Watson attacked? 10 years times 8 crewman would only be 10 years if served concurrently and 80 if served consecutively. He could be out in half that time if he behaves himself.

imap2223 - I repeat what I read. Just like you. Yes, I want proof from others. I want to change my line of thinking.

Hahahaha. Then maybe you should start demanding proof from Watson. Did Watson actually have any authority to attack, disable, detain any Costa Rica fishing vessel? Were the Guatemalian's coming to arrest Watson? Only Watson makes those "claims". Where is the proof you demand? Were the Guatemalian's going to ask Watson to provide proof that he had some jurisdiction in this incident? Did Watson flee the area because he did not actually have any legal authority and the Guatemalian's called his bluff?

Did Watson flee because he knew the Guatemalin's would arrest him for violating Guatemalian laws?

It might not stop the SS guys from taking to the sea again but it will put a dent in Watson's personal fortune, I hope.

OK, imap2223, you got me. I fired off my mouth without support-- thanks for keeping me honest. I hope what follows will satisfy you.

A link to an exhaustive point-by-point breakdown of Yoichi Watanabe's interview with Watson: http://www.japanprobe.com/2011/07/03/sea-shepherds-paul-watson-interview-with-an-eco-terrorist/

If you think that was biased toward the whaling side, here's the wikipedia article to the "Nisshin Maru," the vessel from which Watson claims he was shot, in which it's revealed by a former SS crewman that the shooting episode was indeed staged: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisshin_Maru

An article from the Huffington post in which the same crewman, Pete Bethune, goes on to describe another episode in which Watson orders him to scuttle a ship (not even owned by SS) in order to make it appear as though it were sunk by the Japanese whalers: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/07/peter-bethune-paul-watson_n_754764.html

I think that I've now provided evidence for what I posited in my previous post and then some. In the end, I want to say that my point wasn't to support or condemn whaling-- rather, I was arguing that Paul Watson is a self-satisfied liar who can't be trusted when he says there's a shark-fin bounty on his head. That should be more than abundantly apparent at this point. May your endless thirst to be proven wrong finally be sated, imap2223.

Oh, and imap2223, in the name of this discussion existing on a level playing field, I hope you won't mind too terribly if I ask you to play by your own rules.

I, and I think the rest of this board, am still waiting on evidence from YOU for the following claims:

May 23

3:11PM, you claim that it is a FACT that Watson will be murdered in Costa Rican detention. I'd love to see proof of that.

4:20PM, you claim that it's not difficult to fire a gun from a boat. I agree completely, but I'm assuming you meant to imply that hitting the target is not difficult either-- for which I'd appreciate some proof.

11:02PM, you claim that people speaking against Watson here are doing so solely to get more money from ocean exploitation. Since this is basically an unproveable point, I'll ask instead only for an explanation of your reasoning here, and perhaps you could explain exactly how money from ocean exploitation benefits posters in this thread.

May 24

1:06AM, you vaguely mention that you've provided "FBI and an assortment of other things that I have shown." I can't imagine what this could possibly mean, but you provided no such thing in this thread. Please explain, then prove.

At 1:06 you also go on to claim that Watson's quote about lying on the spot was taken out of context. I'm starting to feel like a broken record here, but prove it.

1:39AM, you say you've seen the shark-finning video. How fascinating that your anecdotal viewing of some media is enough to constitute absolute proof, but mine wasn't. Tell you what-- you give us your video and prove that it was A) the reason the authorities came after him, and B) the reason he ran, and I won't call you a hypocrite.

There's more. In fact, not a single claim you made, for all the posting you've done here, was supported in any way other than your word that it was true. But I'm tired of listing them, and I think the comments board, and hopefully YOU, get the point. Don't tell others to post by one set of rules and then go on to ignore them in all 5 of your subsequent posts-- it makes you look bad.

No, arrestpaul is right-- Watson is a fat loud-mouthed sensationalist liar with no qualms whatsoever about fabricating attempts on his life. Think this line about the "shark-fin mafia" is the first time? In 2008 Watson accused the Japanese coast guard of shooting him with a gun as his crew tossed stink bombs onto a whaling boat. Preposterous, yes, but also hilarious for anyone who's ever shot a gun before and realizes how difficult it would be to hit a small target from a distance while both shooter and target are moving on the ocean. Even better was when Japanese television confronted him on a video conference interview, showing him that the shadowy figure on the Japanese vessel which Sea Shepherd had identified as the concealed shooter was actually... a wall-mounted clock. For a few blissful moments, his stupified expression and fantastic inability to articulate a response danced together in a beautiful harmony I'll never forget.

So is Watson trying to whip up his favorite ego-satisfactory blend of sensationalist accusations and misplaced sympathy (which is to say nothing of Whale Wars ratings)-- most definitely. Will there be an attempt on his life in Costa Rica-- dubious.

imap2223 - It wasn't trash talk, see the tape. Fact is he would be killed by the Costa Rican mafia if he were to go to jail there. It wouldn't get to court. But of course, he must be mindful and question is such a thing is possible.

imap2223 - The video of which you speak is neither here nor there. I have never seen the video myself but it does not matter. If you want to join the fray, provide proof, as often times my opponents on the pro-whaling side do. If not, then hurl insulting comments at the TV. We are talking about a serious issue here and a lot of spend a lot of time verifying and producing proof to back up our claims.

Hahahaha. You repeat everything Watson says as if it's fact and demand proof from others. That's funny. Only the world-renowned liar Watson says the "mafia" is out to get him. Only the world-renowned liar Watson says the eco-terrorist SS had any legal authority to attack, disable, and detain a Costa Rician vessel.

To quote the leader of the eco-terrorist SS - The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was old news. A headline comment on Monday's newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Watson's most famous statement is, "If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation".

Other than a statement from a known liar, how do you know the Costa Rica mafia has a bounty on or is after Watson? Where is your proof?

imap2223 - No, his concern is being killed in prison by the mafia and with good reason. I take it this would be something that would give you delight.

Your personal attack is unwarranted unlike the Costa Rica warrant for Watson's arrest.

Watson has been arrested many times. Watson has been found guilty many times. Watson has paid fines before. Watson has sat in many jail cells. He should be used to that by now. Watson's concern, once again, is not to go to prison for his criminal actions. Watson DID NOT have any legal authority to attack, disable, detain any Costa Rician vessel. Watson lied when he "claimed" that he did. Watson only represented the eco-terrorist SS.

Watson's fairy tale about the Costa Rica mafia is just that, another fairy tale. This time it's about a red herring that doesn't want the world to know that it commited illegal acts off the coast of Guatemala.

Oh and by the way. I did see the video of the shark-finning operation in Costa Rica. Do you think he made that up to? Do you think that they would just let him go after he was able to obtain footage of that? That is another reason why he ran. I would and so would you. You don't want to be in a small country after you have just been caught filming that. NO WAY. You better get your butt out of there and quickly.

*Disabling a ship at sea in the Antarctic, regardless of how much one may object to its activities, is not only a callous act of disregard for human life

@Heda_Madness. Was part of this sentence deliberately removed or is the incomplete sentence intentional or did Greenpeace release a sentence fragment. No sarcasm intended; I really want to know. Sam.

It is amazing how fast any article about Captain Watson gets turned into a Japanese whaling debate.

However the Captain is correct, Sea Shepherds has grown to the point that it will continue it's efforts with or with-out him. One just has to watch their show "Whale Wars" or read their website to know this.

As for being able to shoot some one on a moving boat from another moving boat . . . Well assorted "Whale Wars" videos clearly show that the JP harpoon vessels have sharpshooters with high powered riffles on board, A person used to shooting a moving target from a moving boat. For more examples you only have to search "You Tube" for examples of snipers from the U.S. or UK or Russia or any other nation with a military

As for Captain Watson's safety should he be convicted and sent to prison, he has every right to be concerned as there are inmates murdering other inmates in just about every prison system in the world and the U.S. is one of the worst for that.

It is interesting how the arrest warrant was issued is such close proximity to Japan's lawsuit being issued and the visit to Germany by the President of Costa Rico.

@younknowwhoyouare.....

Hahahaha. You repeat everything Watson says as if it's fact and demand proof from others.

I repeat what I read. Just like you. Yes, I want proof from others. I want to change my line of thinking. If I am wrong, I want to know it. And I have no qualms whatsoever for admitting if I am wrong. Fact is that I had not to this moment seen any such video. I am not going to lie about it. I haven't seen it. If you or that poster want to provide that then please do so. I didn't doubt its existence, I just stated that I had not seen it. So, laugh all you want. I don't see the humor or where you feel there is victory there. But hey, enjoy it.

You continue with petty name calling, but have not provided proof. If he is a liar than prove it. I have proven quite a few things and when I did there was no comment from you on it. FBI and an assortment of other things that I have shown. No comment from you in those times, except to slip into name calling. If he is a liar, than prove it. I have seen no such proof yet.

It really bothers me when half truths are printed like the one below. You forgot to mention that he was talking about his disdain for the mainstream media and how they conduct themselves.

The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was old news. A headline comment on Monday's newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Watson's most famous statement is, "If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation".

Now, if you were to read that and only that, (And I know that was your intention) you would think he was talking about himself. But that is not true either and I am sure you are aware of that. He was talking about the lack of truthfullness in the mass media and how it and the players who use it delve into half-truths, so they can be front line stories today and how when it would come out that the story was incorrect it would appear on later pages and nobody would really care then anyway. And you know what? He was right. The mass media loves to distort things just to sell the news. Was he wrong? No. But you seem to be because once again you are trying to manipulate what the guy was talking about.

Watson is in the process of being extradited to Costa Rica because he violated the laws of Costa Rica. Both Watson and the Costa Rican fishermen are entitled to their day in court.

Playing make-believe again. Watson can never stop it.

if I am prevented from serving on the front lines upon the high seas

Who has seen Paul Watson on the front lines? He is the mastermind of the group.

my concern is not for the judicial system, but for the reality that the shark fin mafia of Costa Rica has a price on my head and a Costa Rican prison would provide an excellent opportunity for someone to exercise this lethal contract against me

His concern is to go to prison for his crimes.

“We have cost the shark finners a great deal of money over the last two decades and they want their revenge.

Costa Rica and the world want justice.

I would need absolute assurance that the Costa Rican authorities would not place me in a position to jeopardize my safety when I return to Costa Rica to prove my innocence in court.”

He wants to stay at a suite in Hilton hotel with Internet and good restaurant.

arrestpaul, Costa Rican officials said the ecoterrorist may try to avoid extradition process by visiting Costa Rica by himself.

They must be careful, because of his history of ignoring court dates. He could use such a chance to flee to his haven of Australia.