All news

U.S. believes Greenpeace members were acting peacefully

Arctic Sunrise crew boarding Prirazlomnaya oil rig qualified as peaceful protest action
Archive Photo ITAR-TASS/ Greenpeace press service
Archive Photo ITAR-TASS/ Greenpeace press service

WASHINGTON, October 9. (Itar-Tass) -  The United States believe that Greenpeace action at involving the Prirazlomnaya oil rig was an attempt to conduct a peaceful protest action and call upon Russian authorities to consider it when judicially processing detained activists.

State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf said this at a regular journalist briefing, avoiding comments regarding Russia’s Investigative Committee findings of illegal narcotics and dual-use hardware on board of the Artctic Sunrise.

She said that U.S. consulate workers continue assisting two American citizens which are among arrested crew members.

 Earlier on Wednesday, the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee told Itar-Tass that dual purpose devices and narcotic substances were confiscated from the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise.

On September 18, the ship Arctic Sunrise sailed to the offshore oil drilling rig Prirazlomnaya. The Greenpeace activists onboard the ship tried to board the drilling rig. Border guards from the Federal Security Service border department in Murmansk Region curbed their actions, the ship was towed to the port of Murmansk.

In the previous week the Leninsky court in Murmansk arrested all 30 activists from The Arctic Sunrise for two months at the request of detectives and prosecutors. They were brought to several detention centres in Murmansk and Murmansk Region.