MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian court in Murmansk denied bail Friday to a two more Greenpeace activists detained last month while mounting a protest against offshore oil drilling in the Arctic Sea.
Alexandra Harris, from the United Kingdom, and Canadian Alexandre Paul are the latest in a string of people to have been denied bail ahead of their trial on piracy charges.
Paul, 36, a long-term activist with Greenpeace, rejected the charges being levelled against him at the hearing.
“I am not a criminal, I’m proud of working for Greenpeace and have never been detained before. I have always cooperated with the judicial bodies,” Paul said.
Harris’ lawyer reacted indignantly to his client’s failed appeal.
“Does this young girl really look like a pirate to you?" the lawyer said.
Greenpeace says on its website that Harris, 27, was on her first campaign with the environmental group when she was detained along with her colleagues onboard the Arctic Sunrise icebreaker.
The court in Murmansk denied Australian radio operator Colin Russell bail Thursday and ordered him to remain in custody until November 24.
He joined nationals of France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and four other countries previously denied bail.
Also Friday, a group of masked people attempted to disrupt a protest staged near the Murmansk court in support of the Arctic Sunrise crew, local media reports said.
The attackers reportedly stole a cage in which Greenpeace activists had planned to hold their protest.
The group of 30 currently in detention, which includes two freelance journalists, could face up to 15 years in jail.
Greenpeace has collected almost 1.5 million signatures for a petition to free the Arctic Sunrise group, the organization’s program coordinator Yevgeniya Belyakova said Friday.
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