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Greenpeace activists charged with piracy by Russian authorities Greenpeace activists charged with piracy by Russian authorities
(about 9 hours later)
Russian authorities have formally charged 14 Greenpeace activists with piracy, with a further 16 facing similar charges. Greenpeace activists who were seized while protesting against Arctic oil drilling face up to 15 years in a Russian jail after being formally charged with piracy.
Those charged included four British nationals. Kieron Bryan, a freelance videographer, along with Alexandra Harris, Philip Ball and Anthony Perrett, were charged with "piracy as part of an organised group". They each face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty. The 14 charged include four British nationals. Kieron Bryan, a freelance videographer, and the activists Alexandra Harris, Philip Ball and Anthony Perrett were all accused of "piracy as part of an organised group". The offence carries a prison sentence of between 10 and 15 years.
Among others charged were Ana Paula Alminhana, from Brazil; Dmitri Litvinov, a Swedish-American; Sini Saarela, from Finland; and Roman Dolgov, from Russia, according to Greenpeace. Altogether there are 30 activists from 18 different countries being held in jails in the Russian port of Murmansk. They were travelling aboard the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace ship that last month mounted a protest against the Prirazlomnaya oil rig. The drilling platform, in the Pechora Sea, is operated by the Russian energy group Gazprom. As two activists tried to scale it, Russian border guards descended on to the boat from helicopters and escorted it back to Murmansk with those on board kept under armed guard.
They are among 30 people from 18 different countries who were travelling on board the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace ship that last month mounted a protest against the Prirazlomnaya oil rig. The drilling platform, in the Pechora Sea, is operated by the Russian energy firm Gazprom. Last week, all 30 were remanded in custody by a Murmansk court for a period of up to two months while investigators look into the charges. Prosecutors issued piracy charges for the activists one at a time throughout Wednesday , and Greenpeace expects the 16 remaining activists to be charged on Thursday .
As two activists tried to scale the platform, Russian border guards descended on to the boat from helicopters. The Arctic Sunrise was then escorted back to Murmansk, north-west Russia, with those on board kept under armed guard. The executive director of Greenpeace International, Kumi Naidoo, said the decision by the Russian authorities to charge the activists represented "the most serious threat to Greenpeace's peaceful environmental activism" since the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. French secret service agents planted bombs on the ship to sink it in 1985, before a protest against nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean. The captain of the Arctic Sunrise, US citizen Peter Willcox, was also the captain of the Rainbow Warrior at the time. He is being held in Murmansk but has yet to be charged.
All 30 activists were remanded in custody for up to two months while investigators looked into the charges. Prosecutors are expected to lay charges against all 30 during the next couple of days.
The executive director of Greenpeace International, Kumi Naidoo, said the decision by Russian authorities to charge the activists represented "the most serious threat to Greenpeace's peaceful environmental activism" since the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985.
The captain of the Arctic Sunrise, American Peter Willcox, was also the captain of Rainbow Warrior at the time. He is being held in Murmansk but has not yet been charged.
"A charge of piracy is being laid against men and women whose only crime is to be possessed of a conscience," said Naidoo. "Any claim that these activists are pirates is as absurd as it is abominable.""A charge of piracy is being laid against men and women whose only crime is to be possessed of a conscience," said Naidoo. "Any claim that these activists are pirates is as absurd as it is abominable."
The charges also come after Vladimir Putin said it was "completely obvious" that the activists were not pirates. The Russian president did, however, accuse them of breaking the law and said that the authorities had no way of knowing whether they were terrorists or not and were thus forced to act. The piracy charges come after President Vladimir Putin said that it was "completely obvious" that the activists were not pirates. He did, however, accuse them of breaking the law and said that the Russian authorities had no way of knowing whether they were terrorists or not and were thus forced to act. On Wednesday, the prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, said there should be tough penalties for people who trespassed on oil and gas installations. "Concern for the environment must not cover up unlawful actions, whatever lofty goals the people who were taking part in them espoused," he said.
Greenpeace claims that more than a million people have written messages to Russian embassies across the world in support of its activists. The parents of Bryan, 29, one of the Britons to be charged, said they were extremely worried about their son and stressed he had been on the ship in his role as a journalist. Bryan studied journalism at Sheffield University and worked for the Times for three years before leaving at the end of 2012. He had been hired by the group to document its work on Russian oil exploration in the Arctic Circle.
"He would sympathise with the cause but he was simply there doing his job as a freelance videographer," said Andy and Ann Bryan, from Shebbear in Devon.
A university friend of Bryan described him as a dedicated journalist and a committed environmentalist.
"He's always been interested in environmental issues and would always be up on the latest bit of research on fracking, shale gas or offshore drilling," he told the Guardian. "The thought that tonight he'll be in a Russian prison rather than playing in our seven-a-side football team because he was doing his job is shocking."
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was in contact with the detained Britons and was providing "consular assistance".
Greenpeace also released a letter written from prison by Faiza Oulahsen, a Dutch activist who has been charged with piracy. She wrote of how her initial stoicism was turning to despair as the Russian security services kept them in cages or freezing cells, and the prospect of a long prison sentence became more of a reality. "Two months in a cell is one thing but after that? What comes after that? A sentence of a few months or a few years in a case based on lies?"
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