Russia is showing “political will” to end the two-month-long dispute over the prosecution of Greenpeace activists after they began to be set free on bail, President Vladimir Putin’s human rights adviser Mikhail Fedotov said to Bloomberg today.
“It’s a good sign, I hope the same will happen to the others”, Fedotov said.
In today’s hearings the court said Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel (Brazil), David John Haussmann (New Zealand), Miguel Hernan Perez Orsi (Argentina) and Tomasz Dziemianczuk (Poland) were to be released on bail.
Yesterday the court said that the vessel’s doctor Ekaterina Zaspa (Russia), the freelance journalist Denis Sinyakov (Russia) and Greenpeace Russia’s press secretary Andrey Allakhverdov (Russia) were to be released on bail.
The bail is put to 2 million rubles (app €45,505) for each of the activists.
Yesterday the court in St Petersburg ruled that Australian Colin Russell must remain in jail until February 24 while the investigation continues. A request for bail or house arrest was denied.
Russia has faced worldwide protests and a legal claim from the Netherlands since it impounded Greenpeace’s ship and charged the campaigners with piracy, which is punishable by as long as 15 years in prison. Prosecutors then cut the charges to hooliganism, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.
