Hooliganism charges against Arctic 30 'still disproportionate'

Greenpeace International activist Tomasz Dziemianczuk (L) from Poland at the Regional Court of Murmansk, Russia, 21 October. Tomasz Dziemianczuk is one of the 'Arctic 30', who were protesting against oil exploration in the arctic and who are now in custody charged with piracy, punishable with up to 15 years in prison: photo - EPA/DMITRI SHAROMOV

"The new classification is still disproportionately severe and is associated with a potential penalty of up to seven years in prison," a statement issued on Wednesday evening by Polish Greenpeace's Robert Cyglicki said.

"We will oppose the unjust accusation of hooliganism as much as we did the accusations of piracy. Both charges are far from reality," he added.

All 30 members of Greenepeace's Arctic Sunrise vessel from 18 different countries, including Poland's Tomasz Dziemianczuk, were originally charged with piracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, after a protest at Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Barents Sea on September 18.

The hooliganism charge only carries a maximum penalty of seven years.

When announcing the charges had been softened on Wednesday evening, Vladimir Markin, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, did not rule out more serious charges being added at a later date, however.

Markin said that as all 30 defendants had refused to give evidence to the investigative team, terrorism and espionage charges could also be levelled against the Greenpeace activists and two freelance journalists. (pg)