14 DAY TRIAL // The Greenpeace activists that were arrested back in September after protesting energy giant Gazprom and its plans to drill for oil in the Arctic have all been released from prison on bail, and lawyers are now bending over backwards to convince Russian authorities to also grant them permission to leave the country.
In a press release, Greenpeace explains that, although the Arctic 30 all got their passports back the moment they got out from behind bars, they still need a visa allowing them to leave Russia and head home to their friends and families.
“All of the foreign nationals, 26 people from 17 nations, have had their passports returned to them after their release on bail from detention last month.”
“However, they do not have the correct visa allowing them to leave Russia and are currently staying at a hotel in St Petersburg,” Greenpeace writes on its website.
Earlier this week, lawyers with the organization started filing applications for exit visas with the country's Investigative Committee.
An application must be filed for each of the Greenpeace protester who is not a Russian National, and the Investigate Committee is expect to say “yes” or “no” to the request in three days' time.
Greenpeace reassures that the Arctic 30 have no intention to run, and that they merely want to wait for Russian authorities to complete their investigations at home and not in a foreign country.
Lawyers working with the organization say that, apart from asking that the Greenpeace activists be granted exit visas, they are trying to find out whether or not the presence of the Arctic 30 will be required in Russia during ongoing investigations.
Should this be the case, they wish to know whether or not the environmentalists will be able to return to the country.
“Greenpeace cannot be certain whether the exit visas will be granted and we cannot promise when our friends will be able to leave Russia, but we are doing our best to get them home as soon as possible,” Ben Ayliffe, Arctic campaigner at Greenpeace International said in a statement.
“They have already paid an absurd and excessive price for an entirely peaceful and justified protest against the dangers of Arctic oil drilling,” he added.