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Murmansk court to try appeals against arrest of 4 Greenpeace activists

The lawyers intend to appeal all actions of the court and the detectives for all arrestees

MURMANSK, October 18 (Itar-Tass) - The Murmansk regional court will try the appeals against the arrest for two months of four Greenpeace foreign activists from the detained ship Arctic Sunrise here on Friday.

“The court will begin to try the appeals from British citizen Alexandra Harris, Arctic Sunrise boatswain from Canada Alexandre Paul, Dutch activist Faiza Oulahsen and third mate from Denmark Anne Mie Roer Jensen,” press secretary of the court Yelena Sinitsa told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

The court began to try the appeals against the arrest of the Greenpeace activists since October 8. For this period of time the Murmansk regional court has already left under arrest 17 Greenpeace activists until November 24. The court delayed the hearings in the appeal against the arrest of Swiss citizen Marco Weber to October 21. The lawyer demanded an interpreter of the German language should be provided to him and all documents should be translated in German for him. Over the withdrawal of the interpreter the court delayed for an indefinite date the appeals of Brazilian Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel and Argentinean Miguel Hernan Perez Orsi.

The lawyers intend to appeal all actions of the court and the detectives for all arrestees, including the second instance court verdict, Greenpeace told Itar-Tass earlier.

The Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise under the flag of the Netherlands sailed to the Gazprom offshore oil drilling rig Prirazlomnaya in the Pechora Sea on September 18. The activists tried to board the drilling rig, appealing to stop oil drilling in the Arctic. The border guards curbed their actions, after that the ship was towed to the port of Murmansk.

In early October at the request of the detectives and the prosecutor the Leninsky district court of Murmansk ruled to arrest all 30 activists onboard The Arctic Sunrise, particularly the citizens from 19 countries, including four Russians. They were brought to the detention centres in Murmansk and Murmansk Region.

All 30 arrested Greenpeace activists were charged under an article of the Criminal Code with piracy by an organized group.