Greenpeace: Russia to release seized ship
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Greenpeace International says Russian authorities have informed the activist group they will release the ship Arctic Sunrise, which has been held in Murmansk since it was seized during a protest against an offshore oil platform in September 2013.
Amsterdam-based Greenpeace said Friday it still believes the actions of Russian authorities in seizing the ship and arresting 30 people on board were against international law.
The crew and journalists were held in Russian prisons for months after their arrest near the Prirazlomnaya platform. They were released shortly before the Sochi Olympics. Greenpeace had opposed the location of the platform, within the Arctic Circle.
FILE - This is a Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. file photo of Greenpeace ship 'Arctic Sunrise' as it is escorted by a Russian coast guard boat, in Kola Bay at the military base Severomorsk on the Kola peninsula in Russia. Greenpeace International says Russian authorities have informed the activist group they will release the ship Arctic Sunrise, which has been held in Murmansk since it was seized during a protest against an offshore oil platform in September 2013. Amsterdam-based Greenpeace said Friday June 6, 2014 it still believes the actions of Russian authorities in seizing the ship and arresting 30 people on board were against international law. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
Greenpeace lawyer Daniel Simons said the organization has asked Russian authorities to guard the vessel until a crew can be sent to Russia to pick it up.
