Activist’s jail ordeal ‘ surreal’
Greenpeace activist Jonathan Beauchamp says three months in a Russian jail felt like two years.
Mr Beauchamp was one of 28 activists and two freelance journalists freed last week after being detained by Russian authorities since September, after an anti- oil drilling protest in the Arctic Ocean.
He told OneNews last night that he was scared to death in prison, which made his stay feel longer than it was.
‘‘ It felt like it’s been two years since I left. I’m still trying to get used to it, you know . . . I’m not even sure that I’m here.’’
The protest was entirely peaceful but the Russians ‘‘ descended on [ it] like furies’’, he said.
The prison experience was surreal. ‘‘ You might just be walking your cell, or pacing up and down your cell and you hold on to the bars and look out the window and go: What am I doing here? ‘‘ How did I finish up here?’’ However, the time spent in jail was worth it in the long run as it drew attention to the dangers of drilling in the Arctic, he said.
Another New Zealander, David Haussmann, was also detained and has made it back to New Zealand.
Greenpeace New Zealand executive director Bunny McDiarmid said it was great to have the pair home safe. ‘‘ They should never have been charged in the first place.’’
his