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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Russia drops piracy charges against Greenpeace activists | 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 reports. | |
| The Arctic Sunrise was seized more than four weeks ago by Russian security forces after activists tried to scale an offshore oil platform. | |
| All 30 people on board - including two freelance journalists - were detained. | 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. |
| 'Not pirates' | |
| Vladimir Markin, the head of Russia's main investigating agency the Investigative Committee, told Russian news agencies that the charges had been reclassified. | 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. | Last week, 11 Nobel prize-winners wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to drop the charges of piracy. |
| The presidential press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said the president had no power to influence the courts. | |
| Mr Putin said last month that the activists had violated international law but it was "absolutely evident that they are, of course, not pirates". | Mr Putin said last month that the activists had violated international law but it was "absolutely evident that they are, of course, not pirates". |
| Greenpeace Russian programme director, Ivan Blokov, told Russia's Interfax news agency that there was no case for either piracy or hooliganism charges. | |
| "There are no signs of hooliganism - no violence, no threat of using violence or any damage to property," he said. | |
| He added that he was surprised the Russian government had earlier refused to attend international court hearings in Germany over the detentions. | |
| The Netherlands took the case of the Dutch-flagged ship and its crew to the UN tribunal in Hamburg on Monday. | |
| The Russian foreign ministry released a statement pointing out that Moscow had opted out of UN Law of the Sea dispute procedures, which infringe upon sovereignty, in 1997. | |
| All 30 people on board the ship, including 28 activists, have been in custody in the northern port city of Murmansk and complain of being held in harsh conditions, | |
| They were detained when Russian security sources stormed the ship following a protest against drilling for oil in the Arctic. | |
| Greenpeace denies any wrongdoing and is calling for the release of the detainees, who come from 18 countries, and their ship, the Arctic Sunrise. |