Controversial marine conservationist Paul Watson, who founded the Sea Shepherd organization and stars in Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars,” is now wanted in three countries after fleeing house arrest in Germany on July 22.

Watson had been awaiting a German court’s ruling on a Costa Rican extradition request stemming from charges that he endangered a Costa Rican fishing vessel’s crew at sea in 2002. (See “Costa Rica seeking extradition of oceans advocate”—EcoAméricas, June ’12.)

The bushy-haired captain denies the accusations and says he has video to prove his innocence. The footage—filmed by a crew aboard the Sea Shepherd’s Ocean Warrior when the 10-year-old incident occurred off the coast of Guatemala—was used in the award-winning documentary film “Sharkwater.” The film spotlighted damage being done to world shark populations by so-called finners, who catch sharks on long lines and sell the lucrative fins, which are highly prized on Asian menus.

Watson, known for his high-profile efforts with Sea Shepherd to deter finning and whaling at sea, says he fears shark finners might kill him if he is extradited to Costa Rica.

Two weeks after his May 13 arrest in Frankfurt, Germany, a judge released the captain to house arrest after he posted 250,000 Euros (US$303,500) bail. He was required to check in with German authorities twice daily.

Watson says he went into hiding after learning that the governments of Japan and Germany were negotiating to have him extradited to Japan in connection with attacks on Japanese whaling vessels, a claim both Japanese and German officials confirmed.

Watson, a Canadian citizen, has cost whalers from Japan, Norway, Iceland and other countries millions of dollars in lost revenue since Sea Shepherd began anti-whaling campaigns three decades ago. Although the International Whaling Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, exemptions allow some whaling to continue. Japanese whalers, for instance, continue to operate on grounds they are engaged in scientific research.

Watson did not respond to an email sent by EcoAméricas, and his cellphone was turned off shortly after he fled Germany.

He did, however, post a message to supporters on Sea Shepherd’s website on July 30, saying, “I am presently in a place on this planet where I feel comfortable, a safe place far away from the scheming nations who have turned a blind eye to the exploitation of our oceans.”

In the missive, Watson says that Japan sought his extradition over the ramming of a Japanese ship in 2010, a case Watson says was based on “fabricated evidence.”

“Germany, however, a country without an extradition treaty with Costa Rica or Japan, decided to apprehend me on what they described [as] a bilateral agreement with Costa Rica,” Watson writes. “This, of course, caught Japan’s attention and they began negotiations to apply directly to Germany with a request for my extradition. That request by Japan was approved by Germany on July 23rd, 2012. I was alerted to this by reliable sources on July 22nd.”

The Sea Shepherd founder says he is “disappointed” with German officials, who “conspired with Japan and Costa Rica” to detain him so that he could be “handed over to the Japanese.”

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo denied Watson’s allegations that Japan, Costa Rica and Germany had orchestrated his arrest in previous diplomatic meetings.

Following Watson’s disappearance and forfeiture of bail, Germany reissued an arrest warrant based on Costa Rica’s extradition request. Interpol then issued a “red alert” for Watson, which is not an arrest order, but rather an advisory to other countries that Watson is sought by Germany and Costa Rica. It is unclear whether other countries will arrest Watson if they find him.

While he remains in hiding, Watson has vowed to carry out a ninth campaign—“Operation Zero Tolerance”—against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which surrounds Antarctica, beginning in December.

Says Watson: “I can serve my clients better at sea than in a Japanese prison cell and I intend to do just that.”