14 DAY TRIAL // This Wednesday, the Netherlands demanded that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), a UN court based in Hamburg, twist Russia's arm and convince it to free the Greenpeace activists, the British journalist and the videographer it arrested back in September.
The Greenpeace activists, the journalist and the videographer were all taken in police custody and charged with piracy in the aftermath of a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic.
As part of this protest, two of the environmentalists scaled an oil rig owned and operated by Gazprom.
Russian authorities might think that they have every right to keep the Arctic 30 imprisoned, but the Netherlands sees things quite differently.
Thus, the country believes that Russia's actions are a violation of human rights, and that the environmentalists must be set free without delay and allowed to return to their home.
“If ITLOS rules in favour of the Netherlands, the 28 Greenpeace International activists, freelance photographer Denis Sinyakov and freelance videographer Kieron Bryan could go home while they await confirmation of a Russian court date,” Greenpeace said.
The Arctic Sunrise ship should be resupplied and returned to the Greenpeace organization, the Netherlands added.
Russia chose not to take part in this court hearing, The Telegraph reports. What's more, the country's authorities have not yet responded to the Netherlands' demands.