SAINT PETERSBURG: A Russian court extended the pre-trial detention yesterday of an Australian member of a Greenpeace crew arrested for a protest against Arctic oil drilling while freeing a Russian doctor and a photographer on bail.
Yekaterina Zaspa, a doctor with Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise icebreaker, became the first of the 30 arrested crew members to be freed pending trial, after two months in detention. She will be released on bail of 2m rubles ($61,400, ¤45,500), Greenpeace said, citing the ruling of the Kalininsky court here.
The court set the same bail conditions for Russian photographer Denis Sinyakov, who has worked in the past for both Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
The 28 activists and two reporters from 18 countries were first charged with piracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years. The charges were later changed to hooliganism, which carries a punishment of up to seven years.
In another sign of hope for the detainees, a prosecutor said he was not against another activist, Ana Paula Maciel from Brazil, also being freed, according to Greenpeace. A decision on Maciel’s fate will be announced today.
Earlier yesterday, another Saint Petersburg court extended the pre-trial detention of Australian activist Colin Russell by three months until February 24, meaning he could remain in jail throughout the Winter Olympic Games in the Russian city of Sochi, which end on February 23. “I love you all. I love everybody,” said Russell, 59, after the judge announced her decision. “I am not a criminal.” Russell insisted he was innocent. “I have not committed a crime so I have nothing to run from,” Russell, looking visibly upset, said from a metal cage in the courtroom.
Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said: “This case is now a circus. “We will continue to pursue every legal avenue we can, and leave no stone unturned, until each and every one of them is home with their families,” he said. AFP
