Russia to file piracy charges against Greenpeace

Russia to file piracy charges against Greenpeace

Reuters


Greenpeace ship "Arctic Sunrise" is seen anchored outside the Arctic port city of Murmansk, Sept. 24, 2013.

By Alexander Roslyakov and Lynn Berry, The Associated Press

Russia's top investigative agency said Tuesday it will prosecute Greenpeace activists on piracy charges for trying to climb onto an Arctic offshore drilling platform owned by the state-controlled gas company Gazprom.

The 30 activists from 18 countries were on a Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, which was seized last week by the Russian Coast Guard. The ship was towed Tuesday into a small bay near Russia's Arctic port of Murmansk and the activists were later bused to the local headquarters of Russia's Investigative Committee for questioning.

The Investigative Committee, Russia's main federal investigative agency, said its agents will question all those who took part in the protest and detain the "most active" of them on piracy charges. Piracy carries a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of 500,000 rubles (about $15,500).

Two activists tried to climb onto the Prirazlomnaya platform on Thursday and others assisted from small inflatable boats. The Greenpeace protest was aimed at calling attention to the environmental risks of drilling for oil in Arctic waters.

"When a foreign vessel full of electronic technical equipment of unknown purpose and a group of people calling themselves members of an environmental rights organization try nothing less than to take a drilling platform by storm, logical doubts arise about their intentions," Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in a statement.

He said the activists posed a danger to operations on the oil platform. "Such activities not only infringe on the sovereignty of a state, but might pose a threat to the environmental security of the whole region," Markin said.

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The oil platform, the first offshore rig in the Arctic, was deployed to the vast Prirazlomnoye oil field in the Pechora Sea in 2011, but its launch has been delayed by technological challenges. Gazprom has said it was to start pumping oil this year, but no precise date has been set.

Greenpeace insisted that under international law Russia had no right to board its ship and has no grounds to charge its activists with piracy.

"Peaceful activism is crucial when governments around the world have failed to respond to dire scientific warnings about the consequences of climate change in the Arctic and elsewhere," Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said in a statement.

"We will not be intimidated or silenced by these absurd accusations and demand the immediate release of our activists," he added.

One Greenpeace activist told The Associated Press that Coast Guard officers hit and kicked some activists when they stormed the Greenpeace vessel.

The Arctic Sunrise was anchored Tuesday in Kulonga Bay near Severomorsk, the home port of Russia's Northern Fleet, 15 miles north of Murmansk.

Greenpeace, which had limited contact with those on board, said they were all fine and that some made calls to friends and family.

Diplomats were allowed to board the Arctic Sunrise for two hours to meet with activists from their countries. Later Tuesday, the activists were driven to the Investigative Committee's headquarters in Murmansk.

Greenpeace said the activists hailed from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States.

Although I agree with them in principal, actions like these are nuts. You just don't do that. GREENPEACE on the side of the boat or not, I'd be thinking terrorist attack. Lucky nobody got killed. You can make yourself a royal PITA in protest, but there are lines you don't cross, and this is way over.

No argument. Like I said, I agree with the cause, not the tactics. Ironic thing is that they split from Sea Shepherd because they thought his tactics went too far. Fouling gear I have no problem with personally, harrasssing them also, but that's just me. I do have a problem with ramming and boarding though, and boarding a Russian oil platform is nuts. It could be a long time before those people see home again. We all have different lines. I guess their donation flow determines theirs, and maybe these kinds of tactics increase donations. IDK. Everything today comes down to money right? We are in the age of 'Anything for publicity, and anything for money'. So maybe enough of the Lindsey Lohan generations thinks it's ok. I know that I won't be signing on as crew anytime in the near future.

I see you don't do much protesting. No politicians in the world care about people standing outside their offices with signs, and no CEO cares about protesters either. Only when you cost them money or stop them from doing business do they start to take notice. That's why OWS failed.

In a restaurant you protest by leaving a small tip, and tell the server why. If it's because of her service she knows to get her act together. If it's because the food was terrible or everybody's meals was served at different times she's going to have a talk with the cook and it won't be pleasant. Nothing like the words "You're costing me money" to get everybody's attention today. (Money has replaced pride and self-respect as the main motivating factor today).

P.S. I guess Dennnismac's comment about Greanpeace's finances answers the question about if they're acting properly. It makes money. Therefore I guess they're right. Guess I'm just a wimp, because there's no way I'd invade a Russian oil platform. Siberia is too cold for me.

I know a few CEOs, Hedge Fund managers, Wall Street executives, politicians and Hollywood celebrities who would (quietly) disagree with you. Not saying that I think you're wrong, but that's just not today's world sorry to say. It's all about the money and the golden rule, as in 'he who has the gold makes the rules'.