Russian Court Denies Bail To UK Nationals Over Protest
Two Britons held in Russia for a Greenpeace protest were ordered to remain in pre-trial detention on Friday (October 11), a defeat for the first of the many foreigners among the 30 detainees to seek bail.
Freelance videographer Kieron Bryan and Greenpeace activist Phillip Ball, who, like the others, face piracy charges, had appealed against their detention through late November.
The court, in the northern port city of Murmansk, had already denied bail to four Russians held for the Sept. 18 protest in which a Greenpeace boat was boarded by security forces close to an oil rig in the Arctic.
Lawyer for arrested freelance videographer Kieron Bryan Mikhail Leonov, said that arrest of a journalist was illegal and was threatening a constitutional right to information.
The arrests and the piracy charges - punishable by up to 15 years in prison - appear aimed at deterring protests and sending a message that Moscow will not tolerate any such actions.
Other countries and companies are seeking to exploit Arctic energy resources and face similar concerns from environmentalists. A Finnish minister resigned on Friday over a row about a Greenpeace protest last year.
Some activists had tried to scale the Gazprom-owned Prirazlomnaya rig which is an important part of Russia's plans to develop the resource-rich Arctic, a move Greenpeace says could destroy a pristine environment.
Investigators have said more charges will be pressed against some protesters after drugs and other suspect items were found on the boat, the Arctic Sunrise. Greenpeace denies there were illegal items aboard.
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