Arctic 30 told they can’t leave Russia

From Salon:  http://www.salon.com/2013/12/13/arctic_30_told_they_cant_leave_russia/

The Greenpeace activists say they’re being held in the country in defiance of an international order


Friday, Dec 13, 2013

Despite an international court ruling and the best efforts of Paul McCartney, Russia won’t allow the foreign activists facing trial for boarding an Arctic oil drilling platform, Greenpeace said Friday.

The Arctic 30, consisting of 28 activists and two journalists, face up to seven years in prison on charges of hooliganism. They were released on bail by St. Petersburg courts last month, and on November 22, the U.N. maritime tribunal ruled that the  26 foreign activists must be allowed to leave Russia pending trial.

But the federal Investigative Committee rejected a request for one of the activists’ exit visa, and lawyers for Greenpeace expect that the rest of the non-Russian defendants will be treated similarly. The lawyers had also requested that the defendants be given one month’s notice before the Committee sought to interview them, so that they’d have time to get back to Russia without breaking their bail conditions — a request that was also denied.

Peter Willcox, captain of the ship that was seized during the protest, expressed his frustration in a statement released by Greenpeace:

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