Russia to Prosecute Greenpeace Activists

Thirty environmental activists who protested at an oil rig platform in the Russian Arctic last week are scheduled to be prosecuted, possibly for piracy, which is punishable by imprisonment up to 15 years, according to Russian investigators, Al Jazeera.net reported.

Report said the “attack”, in which Greenpeace activists tried scaling the Gazprom-owned Prirazlomnaya platform, Russia’s first offshore Arctic oil platform, had violated Russian sovereignty.

Greenpeace said the protest on September 19 ended when armed officers boarded the Netherlands-registered icebreaker and arrested the 30 activists onboard. The vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, was towed to the port of Murmansk.

Greenpeace says its protest, aimed to draw attention to the threat oil drilling poses to the fragile Arctic ecosystem, was peaceful, and that Russia’s actions violated international law, Al Jaeera.net report said.

The Netherlands, where Greenpeace International is based, has called for the release of the ship and all activists, including two Dutch citizens, Al Jazeera.net said. Greenpeace also said the activists had been denied access to lawyers and that they had not yet been formally charged.

Greenpeace also said a diplomatic delegation of 18 officials representing nine countries went on board the Arctic Sunrise on Tuesday afternoon to meet the detainees.

Greenpeace global chief Kumi Naidoo said “Any charge of piracy against peaceful activists has no merit … we will not be intimidated or silenced. Naidoo added “peaceful activism is crucial when governments around the world have failed to respond to dire scientific warnings.”

Greenpeace has said that scientific evidence shows that an oil spill from Prirazlomnaya would affect more than 4,800km of Russia’s coastline.

Global majors including ExxonMobil, Eni and Statoil have agreed deals with Russia’s state-owned Rosneft to enter Russia’s Arctic offshore waters, Al Jazzera.net reported.

Source: AlJazeera.net