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| Russia charges Greenpeace activists with piracy | Russia charges Greenpeace activists with piracy |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russia has charged five Greenpeace activists with piracy, the environmental campaign group says. | Russia has charged five Greenpeace activists with piracy, the environmental campaign group says. |
| Russia's Coast Guard seized the 30-strong crew of the icebreaker Arctic Sunrise on 18 September after a protest at a state-owned oil rig. | Russia's Coast Guard seized the 30-strong crew of the icebreaker Arctic Sunrise on 18 September after a protest at a state-owned oil rig. |
| Activists from Brazil, Britain, Finland and Sweden, and a British videographer were charged, the group says. | Activists from Brazil, Britain, Finland and Sweden, and a British videographer were charged, the group says. |
| Activists from 18 countries are in custody in Murmansk. If found guilty they could face up to 15 years in jail. | |
| Greenpeace named the activists charged as: Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel from Brazil; Dmitri Litvinov, a Swedish-American of Russian origin; a Finnish woman, Sini Saarela; Russian Roman Dolgov and 29-year-old British freelance video producer Kieron Bryan, from London. | |
| Greenpeace said more activists were expected to be formally charged on Thursday. | Greenpeace said more activists were expected to be formally charged on Thursday. |
| The group's international executive director, Kumi Naidoo, said the charges were "extreme and disproportionate". | |
| "A charge of piracy is being laid against men and women whose only crime is to be possessed of a conscience. This is an outrage and represents nothing less than an assault on the very principle of peaceful protest," Reuters news agency quoted Mr Naidoo as saying. | "A charge of piracy is being laid against men and women whose only crime is to be possessed of a conscience. This is an outrage and represents nothing less than an assault on the very principle of peaceful protest," Reuters news agency quoted Mr Naidoo as saying. |
| Mr Naidoo said the way Russian officials had treated the protesters represented "the most serious threat to Greenpeace's peaceful environmental activism" since the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand in 1985, when the group was campaigning against French nuclear testing in the Pacific. | |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously said the activists were "not pirates", but may have broken international law. | Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously said the activists were "not pirates", but may have broken international law. |
| The Russian federal Investigative Committee said earlier this week that peaceful aims would not justify what it has described as an "attack" that posed a threat to the rig and its personnel. | |
| Last month the Greenpeace ship approached the Prirazlomnaya platform, Russia's first offshore oil rig which is scheduled to start operating by the end of the year. | Last month the Greenpeace ship approached the Prirazlomnaya platform, Russia's first offshore oil rig which is scheduled to start operating by the end of the year. |
| Two activists tried to climb up onto the platform and tie themselves onto it, in an attempt to draw attention to the issue of the expansion of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Ocean. | Two activists tried to climb up onto the platform and tie themselves onto it, in an attempt to draw attention to the issue of the expansion of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Ocean. |
| They were detained after a short skirmish in inflatable dinghies in which armed Russian FSB officers in balaclavas fired warning shots into the water. | They were detained after a short skirmish in inflatable dinghies in which armed Russian FSB officers in balaclavas fired warning shots into the water. |
| The Arctic Sunrise, with all its crew, was then towed to Murmansk. | The Arctic Sunrise, with all its crew, was then towed to Murmansk. |
| Mr Bryan's parents, Andy and Ann, from Devon, said they were very worried. | Mr Bryan's parents, Andy and Ann, from Devon, said they were very worried. |
| "Our son is a very kind, caring individual and environmental issues have always been very close to his heart," they said. | "Our son is a very kind, caring individual and environmental issues have always been very close to his heart," they said. |
| Andy Bryan had spoken of his shock at the actions the Russians had taken against what he said was a peaceful organisation. | Andy Bryan had spoken of his shock at the actions the Russians had taken against what he said was a peaceful organisation. |