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      Greenpeace Activists Arrested in Russia May Face Additional Charges

   by VOA News

   Russian investigators say they are considering additional charges
   against several of the 30 Greenpeace activists arrested after a protest
   at an Arctic offshore oil drilling platform.

   A spokesman with Moscow's Investigative Committee said Wednesday that
   authorities found narcotics and "dual-use equipment'' on the Greenpeace
   ship, Arctic Sunrise.

   Last week, Russia charged the 28 activists and two journalists on board
   the ship with piracy. They face up to 15 years in jail if convicted of
   the charge.

   The Arctic Sunrise was seized on September 18 after the vessel
   approached Russia's only offshore oil production platform in the Arctic
   and activists tried to scale it.

   On Wednesday, a Russian court rejected bail requests for three of the
   activists. Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said
   he wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin offering himself as a
   stand-in, in exchange for their release on bail.

   "Given that our activists have been denied the bail yet again today, I
   have written to President Putin seeking an urgent meeting with him and
   offering to come to Russia and offering myself as a guarantor in
   exchange for the release on bail of the activists and to stay in Russia
   for as long as the trial takes. I recognize that there is risk in this
   given that I had participated in exactly the same action last year.
   However, given the urgency that the United Nations has just called on
   us to act on climate change and the fact that we are running out of
   time, this is a risk that we are prepared to take,"  said Naidoo.
   Putin has said it is "obvious" the Greenpeace activists are not
   pirates, but defended the seizure of their ship, saying the activists
   tried to capture the oil platform.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/greenpeace-activists-arrested-in-russ
   ia-may-face-additional-charges/1766072.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/greenpeace-activists-arrested-in-russia-may-face-additional-charges/1766072.html