Post date: Dec 24, 2013 6:19:6 PM
Russia drops criminal charges against first of the thirty people arrested over the Greenpeace Arctic protests under the amnesty passed by Russia's parliament last week. Briton Anthony Perrett says he is relieved.
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 24, 2013) (REUTERS) - Russian prosecutors dropped criminal charges against first of the 30 people arrested over the Greenpeace Arctic protest in September.
The amnesty, passed by Russia's parliament last week, led to the release of jailed Pussy Riot members on Monday (December 23) but is also expected to spare from trial 30 people arrested after a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling. They face charges punishable by up to seven years' in jail.The first to receive the papers and to apply for an exit visa was the UK activist Anthony Perrett.
"Well, I'm only feeling relieved at this point. Yeah, it's nice to have a stamp in my passport to say that I will be leaving Russia. But I'd have preferred it to have been a result of a not guilty verdict of an independent judiciary. But what I got was a presidential pardon. But yeah, I feel like I'll be taking liberty wherever it comes from at this stage," he told Reuters.
"I don't feel I'm guilty of piracy or hooliganism - these are things that as I person I don't think I would ever commit. There are crimes being committed in the Arctic, but they are not by me or byGreenpeace - these are the crimes against humanity which are drilling for more oil when we know full well that any oil that is in the Arctic should stay there in order for us to exist as a species on this planet," Perrett added.
One day after the amnesty was passed president Vladimir Putin said that Russia's response to aGreenpeace protest over Arctic oil drilling should serve as a lesson and Moscow would toughen steps to guard against interference in its development of the region.
Putin suggested Greenpeace activists detained for a protest at a drilling platform operated by state-controlled Gazprom in September may have been carrying out an order to undermine Russia's development of Arctic energy resources.
"On Monday, yesterday, the head of the investigative group signed a paper about criminal charges to be dropped under the amnesty act. This morning this paper was given to us on the premises of the investigative committee. Immediately after that we filled in necessary forms and submitted to theFederal Migration Service office to obtain a transit exit visa. We were promised that this visa will be issued on Thursday. If that is the case then my client will leave the Russian Federation within five days according to the law," Greenpeace lawyer Sergei Golubok said.
He added that the releases of the so-called "Arctic 30" does not bring the whole affair to a closure.
"In the meanwhile the case is not closed. The vessel is still under arrest and we will do everything necessary for this arrest to be lifted so the vessel could leave the Murmansk port. The personal belongings of all the thirty people still have not been returned. And on top of that, we believe that a legal assessment of what has been happening here over the past two months should be given by the international court, by the European Court for Human Rights, and we are looking into the possibility to submit our case here citing illegal detention of all thirty people for over two months," Golubok said.
Russia's treatment of the 30 activists from 18 countries, has drawn criticism from Western nations and a number of global celebrities.
Speaking at an annual news conference, Putin said an amnesty passed this week that lawyers say will enable the Greenpeace activists to avoid trial and return home was not drafted with them in mind.