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"Arctic 30" Being Moved From Murmansk To St Petersburg
'arctic 30' Being Moved From Murmansk to St
Petersburg
Amsterdam, 1 November 2013 - Greenpeace International understands from diplomatic sources that the thirty men and women detained by Russia following a peaceful protest against an Arctic oil platform are being moved from a detention centre in Murmansk to a jail in St Petersburg.
Lawyers for Greenpeace are not aware of
the reasons for the move. Greenpeace International executive
director Kumi Naidoo said:
“The detainees shouldn’t be
in jail at all. They should be free to join their families
and restart their lives. St Petersburg has some daylight in
the winter months, unlike Murmansk. Families and consular
officials will now find it easier to visit the thirty. But
there is no guarantee that conditions inside the new
detention centre will be any better than in Murmansk. In
fact, they could be worse. There is no justification
whatsoever to keep the Arctic 30 in any prison for a day
longer. They are prisoners of conscience who acted out of a
determination to protect us all, and they should be free.”
Greenpeace today released photographs from inside the
Murmansk detention centre where the detainees have been held
for over a month. The pictures show the details of the small
cells and the conditions the thirty have endured (1).
Prosecuting authorities in Russia were under fire today after it was revealed that they have failed to lift charges of piracy against the Arctic 30, despite pledging to do so.
Russia’s powerful Investigative Committee
announced last week that the piracy charges – which carry
a 15-year jail sentence – would be replaced with charges
of hooliganism. But when the thirty detainees were brought
before the Committee over the course of this week, the
piracy charge was not withdrawn. Instead each of them was
simply served with the additional charge of
hooliganism.
They now stand accused of both offences,
which carry a maximum sentence of 15 and 7 years,
respectively.
(1) http://photo.greenpeace.org/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox&STID=27MZIFVZCGES&CT=Story
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