Sea Shepherd's Captain Watson arrested in Germany

[Judi Lynn]

72. Sea Shepherd attorney speaks out following German government decision

May 16, 2012
Sea Shepherd attorney speaks out following German government decision
Gillean Smith

Today in Frankfurt, Germany the general Public Prosecutor to the Higher Regional Court requested a preliminary extradition arrest warrant against Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Captain Paul Watson, on the basis of the local arrest warrant and request for extradition from Costa Rica.

Shortly after this morning's news from the German court, one of Watson's attorneys sent out the following statement:

Dear all,

Today I received the request from the general public prosecutor in Frankfurt to the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt to issue a preliminary extradition arrest warrant against Paul WATSON on the basis of the local arrest warrant and the request for extradition from Costa Rica. The general public prosecutor gives notice, that the Costa Rican authorities have asked for extradition on a charge which is also a criminal act under the German law (dual criminality rule); the general public prosecutor is concerned that the preliminary arrest is necessary because of the likelihood of an escape of the client.

At this stage of the procedure we do not have all the evidence and we do not have any extradition papers from the Costa Rican authorities. Therefore the public prosecutor only asks for a preliminary extradition warrant; he does not ask for a decision of the court concerning the extradition itself. Absolutely unusual - I never had this experience in all my practice in cross border cases - is the fact, that the public prosecutor stated that the German Ministry of Justice and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs have the power to stop the extradition procedure on political reasons.

More:
http://www.examiner.com/article/sea-shepherd-attorney-speaks-out-following-german-government-decision