Putin to pardon Greenpeace's Arctic 30
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
18.12.2013 14:50
Poland's Tomasz Dziemianczuk and other Greenpeace activists are to be given visas and charges will be dropped against them as part of an amnesty granted by President Putin.
Tomasz Dziemianczuk: photo - TVN24 screenshot
Gdansk University employee Tomasz Dziemianczuk is one of the Arctic 30 released on bail last month after being charged with hooliganism when they tried to scale a Russian oil rig on 30 September, but who have been unable to leave the country ever since.
President Putin's amnesty bill was submitted to parliament to mark the 20th anniversary on Thursday of Russia's constitution after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Without naming the Arctic 30 or two Pussy Riot members, the presidential pardon includes those being charged or held for 'hooliganism', which means protesters imprisoned after the May 2012 Bolotnaya demonstrations in Moscow will be given their freedom.
"We feel like animals in a cage, without doing anything wrong," Dziemianczuk told Polish Radio after being unable to return to Poland.
Interfax reports that up to 25,000 could be freed from Russia's jails or non-custodial sentences.
The amnesty, once the bill is passed by parliament, would be implemented within the next six months, Izvestia reports. (pg)