Thread: Ecuador's president orders US environmental activist expelle

****"I am having (him) expelled from the country because I am not going to allow any foreigner to come here to tell us what to do," Correa said on his Saturday morning radio show.****

Ecuador's president orders US environmental activist expelled for role in shark fin seizure

QUITO, Ecuador: President Rafael Correa said Saturday he has ordered a U.S. environmental activist deported from Ecuador for allegedly violating national sovereignty by taking part in a police seizure of two tons of shark fins apparently illegally fished.

Sean O'Hearn, a representative of the environmental group Sea Shepherd, was detained before dawn in the capital of Quito.

"I am having (him) expelled from the country because I am not going to allow any foreigner to come here to tell us what to do," Correa said on his Saturday morning radio show.

"I have an Ecuadorean wife and Ecuadorean daughter," O'Hearn told The Associated Press at the immigration center where he was being held. "This is my country, and for me to treated this way, from night to day to be deported ... without being able to defend myself, I am indignant and my wife feels indignation as an Ecuadorean."

"He has committed no crime," said Mariana Almeida, president of the environmental group Fundacion Selva Vida. "He has had the courage to defend sharks."

Today in Americas
As presidential campaign gets going in Guatemala, the body count mountsBroader wiretapping authority advances in U.S. CongressPartisan anger stalls Congress in final pushA report by immigration authorities said O'Hearn infringed on Ecuadorean sovereignty by "participating in searches for Ecuadorean citizens," resulting in the revocation of his visa.

On Tuesday, police seized hundreds of shark fins apparently caught illegally in the days before a widely criticized presidential decree allowing the sale of fins if the sharks — some of them threatened species — are caught accidentally.

O'Hearn said he participated in the raid as a representative of Sea Shepherd, which he said signed an agreement with police to enforce environmental controls.

O'Hearn, 33, has lived in Ecuador since 2006. The Sea Shepherd Foundation donated a boat to the government to conduct sea patrols to protect against illegal fishing of endangered species.

His lawyer, Gina Solis, said the government is violating procedures by speeding up his deportation.

"The only thing he did was help police combat crime, because two tons (of fins) are not accidental fishing," she said.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Aaron Sherinian said embassy officials were in contact with Ecuadorean authorities about O'Hearn's case.

Fifteen people were detained in Tuesday's raid in the Pacific port of Manta, according to police. But a prosecutor later ordered them released and the fins returned to the fishermen.

Environmentalists say Correa's decree, which took effect Tuesday, will encourage illegal fishing of sharks. Some critics say the president is trying to win the support of fishermen for next month's election of a constitutional assembly.

In his radio program Correa stressed that deliberate shark fishing will still be illegal, although he has not explained how authorities will determine whether sharks are caught accidentally or on purpose.

Noting that each fin can fetch about US$80 to US$100 (€60 to €75) in Asia, where they are considered a delicacy, he defended the measure as a way to help fishermen who "want to bring bread to their children."

"They're telling us to be sensitive with sharks and insensitive with people," Correa said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/ ... pelled.php[/b]

I read this article and visualize Correa Kicking back in his new boat watching the tip of his pole as he trolls for dolphins, more gringo's with gifts and porpoises. Eats a piece of smoked blue whale and drinks a beer.

What a nice guy.

It's about time someone somewhere got booted out for violating an immigration law.

HaaHHaaHaa!

8/5/07
Ecuador Frees Activist, Halts Expulsion

QUITO, Ecuador — A deportation order against a U.S. environmental activist was revoked late Saturday, hours after Ecuador's president ordered him expelled for his role in a police raid to seize shark fins that were apparently illegally fished.

"I thought I would have to leave the country and leave my Ecuadorean wife and daughter here," Sean O'Hearn told The Associated Press by phone after being freed from the immigration center in Quito, where he was taken before dawn. "Now I am happy."

US citizen Sean O’hearn, 33, who lives in Ecuador since 2006, sits in police migration headquarters in Quito, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. Ecuador's President Correa demanded the deportation of O'Hearn, a delegate of the environmental organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, after he participated in a police raid which recovered dried shark fins from fishermen's homes in Manta city. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
O'Hearn said he was visited during the day by Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea and a police commander who, at President Rafael Correa's request, listened to his story and announced the expulsion order would be reversed.

"The was no justification for revoking my visa," said O'Hearn, 33, a representative of the environmental group Sea Shepherd, based in Friday Harbor, Wash.

O'Hearn had accompanied police Tuesday on a raid in which they seized two tons of shark fins, apparently caught illegally in the days before a widely criticized presidential decree on shark fishing rules was enacted.

O'Hearn said he participated as a representative of Sea Shepherd, which he said signed an agreement with police to enforce environmental controls.

His participation prompted Correa to order him deported for interfering in Ecuadorean affairs. "I am not going to allow any foreigner to come here to tell us what to do," the president said on his morning radio show.

A report by immigration authorities accused the American of violating the country's national sovereignty by "participating in searches for Ecuadorean citizens," resulting in the revocation of his visa.

But O'Hearn's lawyer, Gina Solis, told the AP Saturday night that Correa reversed his own decision because the activist "has a valid visa from being married to an Ecuadorean and not having any criminal record."

"The deportation order was illegal," she added.

Fifteen people were detained in Tuesday's raid in the Pacific port of Manta, according to police. But a prosecutor later ordered them released and the hundreds of seized fins returned to the fishermen.

Correa's decree, which took effect that day, legalized the sale of shark fins if the sharks — some of them threatened species — are caught accidentally.

Environmentalists warn the measure will encourage illegal fishing of sharks, and some critics accuse the president of trying to win the support of fishermen for next month's election of a constitutional assembly.

In his radio program Correa defended the rule change, stressing that deliberate shark fishing will still be illegal. However he has not explained how authorities will determine whether sharks are caught accidentally or on purpose.

Noting that each fin can fetch about $80 in Asia, where they are considered a delicacy, he called the measure a way to help fishermen who "want to bring bread to their children."

"They're telling us to be sensitive with sharks and insensitive with people," Correa said.

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/world ... ivist.html