Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise»s US Captain Peter Willcox and his lawyer Alexandr Muherlov leaves the ship which is under arrest and docked in the port of Murmansk.
Russian is to press additional charges against several Greenpeace activists who were arrested for a protest at the country’s first offshore Arctic oil rig, investigators said.
Russia has drawn international criticism over the arrest and subsequent treatment of the 30 people on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise when activists tried to scale the Gazprom-owned Prirazlomnaya oil platform.
Russian investigators initially charged all 30 with piracy but said last month they were changing the charge to hooliganism, cutting the maximum jail sentence they face to seven years from 15 years.
But Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for a state investigative team which reports directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said some of the activists, in addition to being charged with hooliganism, will face charges of resisting law officers, which would carry a maximum five year-prison sentence.
«A few boats approached the platform, and with the aid of special equipment, they tried to climb up the platform. They completely ignored the authorities’ orders. Furthermore, if you recall, they rammed the coastguard ship,» Markin said in an interview.
Greenpeace has always said its protest was entirely peaceful.
Markin’s comments came after British Prime Minister David Cameron gave an interview today urging Putin to help free the Greenpeace activists, saying the action taken against them was «excessive».
Cameron said he welcomed a decision to reduce the charges against the protesters to hooliganism from piracy, but still felt the action went too far.
«They are not hooligans, they are protesters,» Cameron told the BBC, according to a transcript released by his spokesman.
«I totally understand that countries have to have some quite tough rules to stop people invading oil platforms, but I have appealed to Vladimir Putin to try to de-escalate this and make sure that these people can go home.»
buenosairesherald.com