Cannes holds special event for Paul Watson

Cannes is holding a special event with celebrity guests in honor of Canadian environmentalist and Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson at the Hotel Martinez Beach during the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Watson was arrested May 13 at the Frankfurt Airport on a decade-old Costa Rican warrant related to a 2002 confrontation with the shark finning boat Varadero on Guatemalan waters. The incident was featured prominently in Rob Stewart’s award-winning 2007 film Sharkwater. 

The event is “to free Paul Watson so he can continue to stop the destruction of habitat and the slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans and conserve and protect ecosystems and species everywhere.” After spending eight days behind bars, Watson was released from German jail yesterday on bail of 250,000 euros, but because Frankfurt’s higher regional court granted a preliminary extradition arrest warrant to Costa Rica, Watson must stay in Germany for up to 90 days until the case goes before the Ministry of Justice. A Sea Shepherd supporter donated the money for Watson’s bail.

Click here to find out how to get involved in the campaign to free Paul Watson.

Watch Watson’s press conference held yesterday outside Frankfurt’s Preungesheim Prison: