Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise captain and other two activists released on bail by Russian court

The detained captain of Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise and other two British activists have been granted bail by a court in northern Russia.

Peter Willcox previously captained Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship when it was blown up by French agents in harbor in New Zealand in 1985.

Britons Alex Harris and Kieron Bryan were also bailed along with Dutch national Faiza Oulahsen.

Nine other foreign detainees and three Russians were granted bail earlier.

A third Briton, Anthony Perrett, is also hoping for a decision on Wednesday while three other British activists will have their bail hearings later this week.

Of the 13 detainees who appeared in court earlier this week all but one were given bail.

Australian activist Colin Russell, 59, who acted as the ship’s radio operator, was ordered to remain in pre-trial detention until February 24.

Greenpeace said it was “baffled” why he had been kept in custody for another three months while a spokesperson for Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said she was concerned about his case and monitoring it closely, the Canberra Times reports.

The detainees have been held on charges of hooliganism after taking part in a protest at an Arctic offshore oil rig operated by the Russian company Gazprom.

If found guilty they face up to seven years in prison.

Kieron Bryan was on the ship as a freelance journalist and videographer.

Alex Harris, 27, acted as communications officer on the ship.

In a letter from prison to a fellow Greenpeace activist in October, quoted by the Torquay Herald Express, the activist wrote: “I dream of the outside world a lot. When I wake I’m sleeping with steel bars digging into my back, facing the same four green walls I’ve faced for 25 days. That’s the hardest time of the day.

“Despite everything that has happened I don’t hate Russia, I just want to go home.”

The Dutch foreign ministry says the bail ruling for Faiza Oulahsen was a positive development.

Nine people bailed on Tuesday were named as: Miguel Orsi (Argentina), Camila Speziale (Argentina), Ana Paula Maciel (Brazil), Paul Ruzycki (Canada), Sini Saarela (Finland), Francesco Pisanu (France), Cristian D’Alessandro (Italy), David Haussman (New Zealand) and Tomasz Dziemianczuk (Poland).

On Monday, Russian national Yekaterina Zaspa, who served as medical crew on the ship, was bailed along with photographer Denis Sinyakov and activist Andrey Allakhverdov.

Bail of 2 million roubles ($61,000) was stipulated for each detainee.

kjLehfVjxVc