Greenpeace organizes Prague event in support of activists jailed in Russia

Greenpeace activists in Prague on Saturday staged an event in support of colleagues who are currently behind bars in Russia after protesting at an Arctic oil rig. Greenpeace is collecting signatures on a petition for their release and has urged supporters to write to the Russian embassy and send messages to the detained activists. On September 18, the environmental organization's icebreaker, the Arctic Sunrise, approached the Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Pechora Sea, owned by a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, and its activists tried to scale the platform in protest against drilling in the Arctic. Russian authorities detained all 30 members of the ship’s multinational crew, comprising citizens of 19 countries, including Argentina, Finland, Sweden, UK, Ukraine and the US. Courts in Murmansk have ordered the activists to be kept in custody until November 24.