Investigative Committee confirms closure of Arctic Sunrise case
MOSCOW. Oct 1 (Interfax) - The Russian Investigative Committee confirms that it has closed the criminal case opened following Greenpeace's action on the Prirazlomnaya drilling rig in the Pechora Sea in September 2013 on amnesty, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax.
"I confirm that this case has been closed due to amnesty," Markin said.
Environmentalists connected with Greenpeace said earlier to Interfax that the Investigative Committee had dropped the case concerning the environmentalist stunt on Prirazlomnaya.
"A detective told a Greenpeace lawyer that the Arctic Sunrise case had been closed," Greenpeace Russia press secretary Maria Favorskaya told Interfax on Wednesday.
"Some property, including the crew's laptops and some of the ship's equipment, has still not been returned to us. They have promised everything will be returned shortly," she said.
Greenpeace is awaiting the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) hearing of its complaint about the arrest of the Arctic Sunrise crew, Favorskaya said. "We hope the violation of the activists' rights during their arrest will be acknowledged. We also hope that their detention will be found illegal," she said.
The Greenpeace-operated Arctic Sunrise vessel sailing under a Dutch flag was stopped in the Pechora Sea on September 19, 2013, after the environmentalists had staged a protest against the Prirazlomnaya drilling for oil.
The Coast Guard escorted the vessel to Murmansk on September 24, and the Murmansk Leninsky District Court seized it. Until lately, the ship had been anchored in a closed area of the Murmansk seaport.
The Russian Investigative Committee released the ship in early June. The period of investigation into the Greenpeace action near Prirazlomnaya in the Pechora Sea was extended until September 24.
The State Duma declared an amnesty last December on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution, and the Arctic Sunrise crewmembers qualified for it.
