Russia on Friday granted bail to all but one of 30 Greenpeace crew members detained over an Arctic oil protest, but dismissed a UN court ruling that they should be allowed to leave the country.
Courts in Saint Petersburg have now ordered the release of 29 of the Arctic Sunrise ship’s crew, 28 of whom have been freed already, while one Australian activist had his detention extended until February.
The move came just before an international maritime court ordered Russia to release the Dutch-flagged vessel and its crew on payment of a 3.6 million euro (US$4.9 million) bond.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, based in the German port city of Hamburg, also ordered Moscow to allow the detainees to leave the country on receipt of the bond.
Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo welcomed the ruling, calling it “a historic day.”
Naidoo said the activists should be allowed to leave Russia immediately.
“This tribunal has clearly stated that all 30 should be free to leave Russia until the arbitral proceedings have been concluded,” he said.
However, the Russian foreign ministry responded dismissively, saying in a statement that the case “does not fall under the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.”
The ministry said however that it would “definitely study the decision.”
Russia said it did not take part in the proceedings because it does not view the case brought by the Netherlands as a maritime border dispute between the two countries.
The Hamburg tribunal’s judgements are binding, but if not complied with, the court has no other means of enforcing them, a court spokeswoman said.
The Russian authorities agreed to free the activists after Greenpeace paid a bail sum of 2 million rubles (US$60,750) for each. The crew members still face jail terms of up to seven years if found guilty of hooliganism.
Greenpeace said the foreigners in the group were staying in Saint Petersburg for the moment. Of the 30 detained, 26 are foreign nationals.
Greenpeace ship veteran US captain Peter Willcox was among the 17 to be freed on Friday.
Also released were five British crew members: video journalist Kieron Bryan, communications officer Alexandra Harris, activist Anthony Perrett, second engineer Iain Rogers and logistics coordinator Frank Hewetson. Activist Marco Weber from Switzerland, who was one of those to scale a Russian oil platform in the protest, was freed as well. A court in Saint Petersburg on Friday also granted bail to British activist Phil Ball, who has yet to be released.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia had no desire to exacerbate a situation that has already seen Moscow draw sharp rebukes from several European heads of state.
“I want to assure you the political leadership of Russia has no desire especially to interfere in this process,” Putin told reporters.
“We are not able to interfere in the legal side of this case. We do not have the desire to aggravate anything or to specially detain anyone,” he added.
“The fact that the Arctic Sunrise and its crew should be immediately released and should be able to leave Russia is very positive,” Putin said in televised comments. “We are continuing to discuss with Russia to resolve the question.”
A Russian court on Monday refused bail to Australian radio operator Colin Russell, extending his pre-trial detention until Feb. 24, a day after the end of the Sochi Winter Games hosted by Russia.
It is unclear why Russell had his bail request refused. He is appealing the decision.
Russia initially charged all the crew members with the more serious offence of piracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years before reducing the charge.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not