Greenpeace senior campaigner Reece Turner said:
“Charging gentle Colin Russell with hooliganism is absurd. Col is as much a hooligan as Nobel Peace Prize winner Reverend Desmond Tutu, who in 1980 was jailed for marching in opposition against apartheid and recently lent his public support to Greenpeace campaigners now detained in Murmansk.
“Swapping hooliganism for piracy does not change the crazy nature of the charges. An attempt to peacefully hang a banner to highlight the dangers of drilling for oil in the Arctic does not merit this response.
“Winter in Murmansk - the largest city inside the Arctic circle - is rapidly approaching and temperatures of minus 20 are just around the corner. Conditions for Colin in his small cell, from which he is let out for just 60 minutes a day, are poor.
“Greenpeace is calling on the Australian government to do everything it can to secure the quick safe release of these peaceful protesters.”
In other news thousands marched through Central Moscow on Sunday demanding the release of political prisoners including the Arctic30.
Contact for further information and interviews: Alison Orme Media for Greenpeace Sydney 0432 332 104
Photos of Colin Russell taken to the Investigative Committee in Murmansk by police escort to be charged with hooliganism here and attached: 1. http://tiny.cc/gtxo5w 2.http://tiny.cc/57xo5w Others pics available on request.
