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| Russia drops piracy charges against Greenpeace activists | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russia has dropped piracy charges against 30 Greenpeace activists, replacing them with hooliganism charges, according to officials. | Russia has dropped piracy charges against 30 Greenpeace activists, replacing them with hooliganism charges, according to officials. |
| The new charge has a maximum penalty of seven years rather than 15, Russian news website Lenta said. | The new charge has a maximum penalty of seven years rather than 15, Russian news website Lenta said. |
| The Arctic Sunrise was seized more than four weeks ago by Russian security forces after some activists tried to scale an offshore oil platform. | |
| All 30 people on board - including two freelance journalists - were detained. | |
| So far all bail applications in the case have been refused. | So far all bail applications in the case have been refused. |
| Vladimir Markin, the head of Russia's main investigating agency the Investigative Committee, told Russian news agencies that the charges had been reclassified. | |
| Last week, 11 Nobel prize-winners wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to drop the charges of piracy. | |
| Mr Putin said last month that the activists had violated international law but it was "absolutely evident that they are, of course, not pirates". |