Polish Greenpeace activist released on bail in Russia

Polish Greenpeace activist Tomasz Dziemianczuk (C) leaves prison as he is released on bail from SIZO 1 detention center in St. Petersburg, Russia, 21 November 2013. The Kalininsky court in St. Petersburg granted bail to Dziemianczuk on 19 November. More crew members of a Greenpeace ship ended their two-month detention in Russia on 21 November, as they walked out of St Petersburg prisons, while city courts continued to grant bail to their fellow activists: photo - EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

The 37 year-old Pole was granted bail on a 2 million rubles (50,000 euros) security this week.

The Greenpeace activists have been held on hooliganism charges after the Arctic Sunrise protest and face seven years in a Russian penal colony if found guilty.

The Moscow Echo radio station is reporting that Tomasz Dziemianczuk, an employee at Gdansk University, will have the right to leave Russia under the terms of the bail but must return if and when the court requests.

The captain and three Britons from on board the seized Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise were also granted bail on Thursday, bringing the total to 20 of the 30 Greenpeace activists that will be freed.

Greenpeace in Poland unfurled a banner on Warsaw’s Palace of Culture on Thursday demanding that all of the Arctic 30 be released without charge. (pg)

source: PAP