Moscow, Sep 25 (IANS/ITAR -TASS) The Greenpeace activists who staged a protest at the oil platform Prirazlomnaya in Murmansk region of northern Russia Sep 18 are not pirates but they violated international law, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I do not know in detail what had happened, but it is absolutely obvious that they are not pirates. But formally they tried to seize the oil platform,” he said addressing the Arctic Forum at Salekhard in northern Russia Wednesday.
Icebreaker Arctic Sunrise, flying a Dutch flag, Sep 18 approached the offshore oil platform Prirazlomnaya which is drilling oil on the offshore shelf in Murmansk.
Several Greenpeace activists boarded the oil platform but border guards of the Federal Security Service stopped them after which the Arctic Sunrise was towed to the port of Murmansk.
Detectives also detained 30 activists on board the Arctic Sunrise and a criminal case was filed against them for piracy for the attack on the Prirazlomnayat.
Russian investigators, however, do not rule out a change in the charge against the Greenpeace activists to another article of the Russian Criminal Code.
In his speech Wednesday Putin noted that, in formal terms, the Greenpeace activists “tried to capture the oil platform”.
“And our law enforcement agencies, our border guards did not know who tried to capture this oil platform under the guise of the Greenpeace organisation,” he said.
“It is absolutely obvious that these people violated international law.”
–IANS/ITAR-TASS
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