The Russian Investigative Committee finally agrees to release the Greenpeace ship

Jun 7, 2014 19:49 GMT  ·  By

Yesterday, Greenpeace announced that the Russian Investigative Committee had finally agreed to release of the last of the Arctic 30: the Arctic Sunrise. Thus, after spending 9 months in the port of Murmansk, the Greenpeace ship will finally get to go home.

For those unfamiliar with the story behind the Arctic 30, the entire affair began back in September 2013. At that time, a group of Greenpeace activists protested drilling in the Arctic by boarding Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya oil platform.

The result was that 28 members of the organization, together with two journalists, were arrested. They were first charged with piracy, but, later on, these charges were dropped and hooliganism ones were filed in their place.

Greenpeace still claims that the protest targeting Gazprom's Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Pechora Sea was a peaceful one, and that Russian officials had no business arresting the environmentalists and putting them behind bars.

In last year's December, the Arctic 30 were finally granted amnesty, and the environmentalists, together with the two journalists taken in police custody alongside them, were allowed to return home to their friends and family.

However, the Arctic Sunrise, which was seized by authorities in Russia during the arrest of the Greenpeace activists, remained in Russia for several months to come. Thus, it was only recently when the country's Investigative Committee agreed to free it.

“Our lawyers have signed the papers and she's officially back in our hands. Millions of people from around the world spoke out against the illegal imprisonment of the Arctic 30, and today the final member of the group is free to come home,” Greenpeace writes.

The organization explains that, as soon as it is reunited with the ship, it will see to it that the Arctic Sunrise gets back on its propellers. After this, the vessel will once again be used to protest drilling in the Arctic.

Despite its run-in with Russian authorities, Greenpeace says that it has absolutely no intention to cease protesting the oil industry. On the contrary, the organization claims to be more determined than ever to try to end the use of this dirty fuel.

“This whole affair has been a brazen attempt to intimidate those who believe that drilling for oil in the melting Arctic is reckless and unsafe,” the environmental group describes Russia's decision to imprison the Arctic 30 and hold their ship captive for 9 months.

“Only together will we Save the Arctic. As the world warms and the ice melts this is fast becoming an era defining battle, and we are determined to win it,” Greenpeace adds.