Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson says Costa Rica made up charges

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – The Canadian founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says Costa Rica has charged him with a crime that doesn’t exist in that country because it’s being a “serving boy” to Japan, which wants him extradited.

Costa Rica charged Paul Watson with endangering a Costa Rican fishing boat in 2002.

He has been on the run for a year.

Watson said Wednesday in a telephone interview aired on Costa Rica’s Rainforest Radio that his lawyers told him the crime doesn’t exist in the Central American country.

He said he suspects Costa Rica wants to help Japan capture him in exchange of economic aid.

Watson and his group have repeatedly clashed with Japanese fishing fleets they accuse of illegally hunting whales, sharks and other endangered sea animals.

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