Greenpeace activists, photographer to be held

MOSCOW— A Russian court ordered a photographer and nine Greenpeace activists to be held under arrest for two months Thursday pending investigation into an attempt to board an oil drilling platform in the Arctic Ocean. Three otherswere ordered held for three days.

Prominent Russian photographer Denis Sinyakov, the American ship’s captain, Pete Willcox, and Greenpeace spokesman Roman Dolgov were among those under arrest by a court in the Russian port of Murmansk.

More judges were called in to speed the process for the remaining 17 people who were aboard the Greenpeace vessel, Arctic Sunrise, said Vladimir Chuprov, head of the Greenpeace Arctic program. The ship was seized by Russian-commandos Sept. 19, the day after activists tried to board the Prirazlomnaya platform to hang a banner protesting oil exploration.

Authorities at one point accused the activists of piracy. “What we see is a fierce intimidation campaign against our activists based on the absurd accusation of piracy,” Chuprov said.

Sinyakov, who has been covering the actions of Greenpeace activists, is a freelance journalist who has nothing to do with the group’s agenda, said Alexei Simonov, of Glasnost Defense Foundation, aMoscow- based rights group.

“The authorities violated all norms and laws by keeping Sinyakov in prison,” Simonov said. “I must say it again and again that the Russian justice system is designed by the Kremlin not to look for real culprits to be punished but to punish and scare those who don’t suit the authorities.”