Ian Duff / Greenpeace & Shaun Walker / The Guardian – 2013-09-28 00:50:56
http://www.greenpeace.org/freeoutactivists
Update: I’m Worried about My Friend
Ian Duff / Greenpeace
LONDON (September 23, 2013) — It’s been 100 hours since we heard from Alex. A colleague and a friend, is one of 30 people being held prisoner aboard the Arctic Sunrise. Alex was one of the three activists who locked themselves in the communications room to get the message out, right before armed forces broke in and cut our contact with the ship.
Russian media have reported that the Arctic Sunrise will be towed into the port of Murmansk on Tuesday. The activists have not been formally charged with anything yet. Let’s use these last few critical hours to pressure the Russian authorities to release Alex and the 29 others.
Forward this link to your friends and pressure the Russian embassy to release our activists. More than 300,000 letters have been sent already, and every message counts.
www.greenpeace.org/freeoutactivists
Seizing our ship in international waters is illegal. And the detention of peaceful protestors without charge is wrong. But it’s not too late for the Russian authorities to set them free.
Instead of protecting Arctic oil drillers, governments around the world should be protecting us from the threat that companies like Gazprom and Shell pose to us all.
Alex risked her liberty for all of us, now it’s time for us to stand up for her and help free the Arctic 30.
Statement from Ian and the friends and family at Greenpeace
Tell Russia to Release Greenpeace Activists
On September 18th, Greenpeace activists attempted to peacefully occupy an offshore oil platform owned by Russian oil giant Gazprom. But when they arrived, the Russian Coast Guard fired warning shots and threatened the activists’ lives.
Then, Russian Coast Guard officers illegally boarded and seized the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise via helicopter. After almost a week, the 30 activists attended a court hearing where a Russian Criminal court ruled that they would be held without charge for two months, pending an investigation for alleged piracy.
We’re mounting an international effort to get them back safely along with the release of the Greenpeace ship. And it starts with people around the world putting pressure on the Russian government.
Please join our activists in becoming an Arctic Defender. Sign our petition to Russia’s US ambassador demanding Russia release the activists, the immediate withdrawal of the Russian Coast Guard from the Greenpeace ship, and an end to offshore oil drilling in the Arctic for good.
Message
Release Greenpeace Activists
Dear Ambassador Sergey Kislyak,
I demand the urgent release of all Greenpeace activists, the immediate withdrawal of the Russian Coast Guard from the Greenpeace ship, and an end to offshore oil drilling in the Arctic for good.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Greenpeace Activists Could Be Charged
With Terrorism after Ship Stormed
Shaun Walker / The Guardian
MOSCOW (September 20, 2013) — Jumping from helicopters and slithering down ropes, more than a dozen armed Russian coastguard workers boarded a Greenpeace ship and took custody of the activists on board, to stop them from disrupting the work of a controversial oil rig.
After a scuffle between the activists and the Russian security forces, the 29 activists, including six British nationals, are apparently being held on board at gunpoint, while the ship is forcibly towed to the Arctic port of Murmansk.
The Russian coastguard, which is controlled by the FSB security services, boarded the Arctic Sunrise late on Thursday night near Prirazlomnaya, a drilling platform in the Pechora Sea, close to the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
The activists were protesting against the rig, operated by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is due to come online soon, and had attempted to climb aboard it and stop work.
The ship’s crew remain in the custody of armed Russian security forces and could be charged with terrorism.
The FSB said it had been tracking the vessel since it left the Norwegian port of Kirkenes last Saturday, and turned off its radio signals. Once the ship had changed course and began heading for the Prirazlomnaya platform, the FSB decided to act. Warning shots were fired and two climbers on the rig were arrested earlier in the week.
When the ship’s captain refused to turn back or respond to commands on Thursday, the FSB said it took the decision to act. About 15 armed men boarded the boat via helicopter, according to activists on board.
Ben Ayliffe, the head of Greenpeace International’s Arctic oil campaign, said he was speaking to one of the activists via satellite phone during the storming, and could hear shouts and banging.
“They used violence against some of us. They were hitting people, kicking people down, pushing people,” Faiza Oulahsen, one of the activists aboard the ship, said in a call to Reuters on Thursday evening.
Nothing has been heard from the activists since. The Russian coastguard said that the ship’s captain was refusing to operate the ship, so an official boat was towing the Arctic Sunrise west towards Murmansk.
Greenpeace insists the ship was in international waters when it was boarded, and said there had been no formal notification of possible charges, nor offers of access to legal or consular assistance.
The ship was 34 nautical miles from the closest Russian shore, according to the activists, which would put it in an area known as the Exclusive Economic Zone of Russia but not in the country’s territorial waters.
The FSB said it was co-ordinating actions with the foreign ministry, Gazprom and oil company Rosneft “to protect the safety of the crew on the platform and defend the interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic region.”
The regional press office of the FSB in Murmansk told Russian agencies that it had received information from representatives of the Prirazlomnaya platform earlier in the week that they feared a terrorist act was about to be carried out, and said that activists were approaching the rig with an “unidentified object that looks like an explosive device.” Greenpeace claimed this was disingenuous, as its “safety pod” is brightly colored and branded with the organization’s logo.
Greenpeace has long warned that the start of oil drilling at Prirazlomnaya could have disastrous environmental repercussions. “The rig is a rusting hulk in the middle of the Arctic that is about to start pumping oil from the Arctic for the first time,” said Ayliffe. “Gazprom has no way to clean up an oil spill if it happened, and it would cause huge damage to one of the most fragile natural environments on the planet.”
The Arctic Sunrise ran a similar mission to Prirazlomnaya last year, and several activists again climbed on to the rig, but although they were observed by Russian authorities, there was none of the forceful reaction that occurred this time, Ayliffe said.
Vladimir Chuprov, the head of Greenpeace Russia’s Arctic programmes, says the organisation is trying to arrange meetings with Russian officials to discuss the situation. A Greenpeace team is already in Murmansk awaiting the arrival of the boat, expected at some point on Monday.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
