‘Finnish activist to remain in Russia’

A court in Murmansk, in the extreme northwest of Russia, has ordered the detention of 30 members of Greenpeace arrested on September 19. The decision is the latest example of the authorities crackdown on protests against oil drilling in the Pechora Sea.

Helsingin Sanomat reports that Sini Saarela, a Finnish citizen, was among those arrested. The daily adds that the 31-year-old activist has questioned the legitimacy of the court procedure and accused the prosecutor and judge of “bias.”

The environmentalists, who were protesting against the pollution risks involved in oil extraction in the Arctic, could face charges of piracy following their boarding of the Russian drilling platform, Prirazlomnaïa. Their ship, the Arctic Sunrise, was seized by Russian special forces and towed to the port of Murmansk.