Marco Weber, pictured here, and 29 other activists have been in captivity for more than two months
Keystone/GREENPEACE DENIS SINYAKOV
Marco Weber, the Swiss Greenpeace activist arrested by Russian authorities more than two months ago following a protest at an Arctic oil platform, will be released on bail along with 20 fellow protesters.
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In total, 30 protestors were arrested on September 18 after launching a protest on the Prirazlomnoye oil platform, run by the Russian state-owned Gazprom, from aboard Greenpeace’s “Arctic Sunrise” vessel.
According to Greenpeace Switzerland, the 28-year-old Weber was granted bail Wednesday upon payment of two million Russian roubles, or CHF55,000. However, he and the other activists granted bail are not expected to be released from prison before the weekend due to beaurocratic issues yet to be resolved.
News of Weber’s bail was first announced via Twitter.
Despite the most of the protesters being granted bail, Greenpeace has said many questions remain about the protesters’ futures.
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Fate of Greenpeace activists remains unclear
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On October 21, Weber and the others were denied bail by a court in the northern city of Murmansk. Then, on October 23, the Russians said they had reduced the activists’ charges and changed their maximum prison time to seven years from the original 15. Greenpeace called the revised charges still “wildly disproportionate” and said…
“We have no idea under what conditions our friends will live when they are released, whether they will be under house arrest or if they will have the right to leave,” the organisation’s executive director, Kumi Naidoo, said on Tuesday.
The 30 protesters aboard the Arctic Sunrise were arrested by Russian officials near the oli platform and charged with piracy after their boat was towed to the port of Murmansk. Later, the piracy charge was reduced to “hooliganism”, which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
During his captivity, Weber described in a letter the difficult conditions he and the other protesters were being held in, with extremely cold temperatures and daily walks which were “demeaning” in nature. “The room is dirty and wet,” he said of where he was being held.
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A Finnish colleague was also denied bail. Both will have to stay in prison until November 24 along with other members of the “Arctic 30”. They are in custody charged with piracy – punishable by up to 15 years in jail – after being caught on board the Arctic Sunrise on September 18. The Dutch-registered…
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Following an attempt by 30 Greenpeace activists on September 18 to scale a Russian Arctic platform, a Murmansk court in northwest Russia on Thursday denied bail and gave a two-month jail term to Marco Weber from Switzerland. Among the others detained – the majority of the group, the numbers have not yet been confirmed – were ship captain, Pete…
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You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.