Russian media protests detention of Greenpeace freelance photographer
A dozen Russian websites have used black and gray squares instead of photos, protesting against the detention of a Russian freelance photographer with other Greenpeace activists for their action in the Arctic.
30 Greenpeace activists, including Russian photographer Denis
Sinyakov and a freelance UK videographer, Kieron Bryan, were
detained while staging a protest next to the oil platform owned
by Russian state giant Gazprom.
Twenty-two out of 30 people who approached Gazprom’s
Prirazlomnaya rig on board the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic
Sunrise were ordered by a court to be held in custody for two
months, pending an official investigation into the incident. The
remaining eight had their detention prolonged for 72 hours on
Friday.
While Russian authorities have launched a criminal case into
suspected piracy following the protest, an Investigative
Committee spokesman told Itar-Tass that the activists may be
tried on lighter, non-custodial charges. The spokesman also said
he would not rule out that the suspects may be freed before the
two-month pre-detention period is up.
As of Friday, no charges had been officially brought against any
of the activists, according to Greenpeace.
Greenpeace has already stated that it would appeal the court’s
ruling to detain the activists. The organization has also
dismissed the accusations of piracy, saying the activists didn’t
try to take over any ship and didn’t use force.
“These detentions are like the Russian oil industry itself, a
relic from an earlier era. Our peaceful activists are in prison
tonight for shining a light on Gazprom’s recklessness. The Arctic
is melting before our eyes, and these brave activists stand in
defiance of those who wish to exploit this unfolding crisis to
drill for more oil,” said Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace
International’s executive director.
Naidoo demanded the immediate release of the activists and said
Greenpeace would continue its fight for the creation of an
international reserve around the North Pole, Itar-Tass reported.
On Sept. 18, Arctic Sunrise activists tried to scale the oil
platform and attach themselves to it, but their attempt was
disrupted by border guards from Russia’s Federal Security
Service, or FSB. The FSB took over Greenpeace’s ship and towed it
with the crew onboard to Murmansk.
With the activists coming from 18 different countries, the case
has been thrust into the international spotlight.
About a dozen Russian media outlets on Friday took all pictures
off their websites in a show of solidarity with the jailed
photojournalist, Denis Sinyakov. An open letter in support of
Sinyakov, signed by Russian journalists, was also published in
the media.
Reporters Without Borders protested the jailing of Sinyakov, who
is a photographer for various international and Russian media
outlets, saying his arrest was “an unacceptable violation of
freedom of information.”
The top trans-Atlantic security and rights group, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), also
voiced its concern and demanded Sinyakov’s immediate release.
