Did anyone expect anything different? The Germans let Paul Watson out on bail while waiting a hearing. Paul Watson left the country and is now a fugitive from justice.
From http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/31/13052889-fugitive-anti-whaling-activist-accuses-former-crew-member-of-betraying-him-to-japan:
From http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/31/13052889-fugitive-anti-whaling-activist-accuses-former-crew-member-of-betraying-him-to-japan:
quote:And in related news, Bethune has filed suit against the Sea Shepherds for not paying the balance owed on the Ady Gil which he had sold to them. From http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/sea-shepherd-warriors-embroiled-in-bitter-court-battle/story-fndo317g-1226440655005:
On the run and with three countries seeking his arrest, the captain of an anti-whaling group is claiming Germany was ready to sacrifice him to Japan and that a former crew member convicted by Japan had become a traitor by providing "false evidence."
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson said he was in "a safe place" after fleeing house arrest in Germany earlier this month when he learned that Japan was also seeking his extradition. Watson was being held on an earlier extradition request from Costa Rica.
...
"The German government said I betrayed their trust by leaving Germany, yet they had already betrayed my trust," he stated. "The German politicians had made up their minds politically before the German court had made a decision, and during the time I was held in Germany, the Japanese negotiated with Germany to file for an extradition order to Japan on fabricated evidence provided by former Sea Shepherd Crewmember, Peter Bethune."
Watson then accused Bethune of cooperating "to provide false evidence to the Japanese Coast Guard to blame me for the boarding actions, despite the on-camera documentation that I specifically advised against the boarding by Bethune."
quote:
Pete Bethune, now an independent marine activist, claims Sea Shepherd deserted him after he'd served his purpose and owes him $500,000. He has taken his demands to a court in Maryland, in the US, claiming he sold the 24m wave-piercing trimaran to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for $1.5 million in 2009.
He said $1 million was paid, with more than 20 emails confirming the remaining $500,000 would be paid in 2010. But on January 6, 2010, the Ady Gil - in its new black Sea Shepherd livery and skippered by Mr Bethune - collided with the Japanese whaling support vessel MV Shonan Maru, snapping off the Ady Gil's bow. It sank a day later.
...
Mr Bethune claims Sea Shepherd ordered him and other crew "to deploy prop foulers, shine lasers in the eyes of Japanese crew, fire butyric acid at the whaling vessels - all breaches of maritime law".
"I sacrificed a year of my life to Paul and the SSCS, including five months in a maximum security prison in Japan resulting from actions I took under the captaincy of Paul," Mr Bethune said.
"He then expelled me from SSCS while I was in jail and their treatment of me publicly and privately since then has been a disgrace. The Japanese at least treated me with dignity and respect.