Paul Watson says Costa Rica is in Japan’s pocket; blames Jairo Mora’s death on government

Paul Watson

June 27^th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) In an interview with Rainforest Radio yesterday, environmentalist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepard society claimed Costa Rica’s criminal complaint against him is the result of millions of dollars in donations given by Japan to Costa Rica, and also said environmentalist Jairo Mora – found murdered on a beach in Moín earlier this month – would not be dead of Costa Rica’s government would have “done its job.”

Watson said that Costa Rica charged him with a crime that doesn’t exist in Costa Rica because the country is being a “serving boy” to Japan, which wants him extradited.

Watson, 62, was charged by Costa Rican authorities with endangering a Costa Rican shark fishing boat and its crew in 2002.

Watson, who has been a fugitive for almost a year since Costa Rica issued an international arrest warrant against him, said that Jairo Mora would not have died if the government had protected turtles, other species, and its own beaches.  Watson said that Costa Ricans should be embarrassed by what happens in their territorial waters, referring to the indiscriminate killing of non-target species.

Watson has put up $30,000 of his own money for information that leads to the capture of Mora’s killers, which he said came from the sale of a vehicle he owned, and is not funds provided by the Sea Shepard organization.

Watson also indicated that a new vessel purchased by the Sea Shepard organization should be named after Mora.

Watson, a Canadian, was arrested at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 13^th of last year, after international arrest warrants were issued by Japan and Costa Rica.  He was released a week later after posting bail of 250,000 Euros, and his whereabouts have been unknown since.