[dissident]

.
Moscow has had a consistent attitude putting their national law above any international body
unless it has been agreed beforehand.

"you can't just go seizing another nation's flagged ship and claim piracy"

Yes you can , piracy , weapon smuggling and slaving , even on suspicion are ground for the countries to intercept ,
search , seize and arrest .
there is precedent for a country arresting people on board a neutral vessel
see the Trent incident for example
recently a presidential plane ( deemed a ship in international law ) was forced down
and searched looking for Snowden

As for going to jail , I've said it before ,
once condemned in a Russian court of law , you are taken out of remand jail and given to the carceral system
everybody go tho work camps , there is six different grades ,women usually sew uniforms , men chop wood
the camps range from light and easy , close to home ,
to hard remote camps full of really tough criminals with tough guards on top .
there is some exception such as the White swan penitentiary , for the really hard and difficult "tigers"
it's reported as extreme , even by Russian standard .

Thanks, sparky, for reminding some of the chest thumping chauvinists what the deal is. It's OK for the US to ground an aircraft because Snowden, a whistleblower, might have been on it, but it's not OK for Russia to arrest a bunch of vandals who engaged in repeated harassment, endangerment and trespass on a Russian oil rig working in Russia's EEZ.

Let's see this BS kangaroo tribunal enforce its "law" on Russia. It is nothing more than a propaganda exercise. Maybe the US navy can accompany Greenpeace ships when they disrupt Russian oil and gas rig operations. Apparently, we have a collection of clowns here who think they are dealing with a banana republic that somehow must bend to their capricious desires. No, you will have to live with Russian law and the consequences of it for idiots like the Greenpeace crew.

Russia should set the logical precedent: oil and gas rigs operating in the EEZ are de facto sovereign territory of the country operating them. Hence they have a 12 nautical mile (let's be generous and make that 7 nautical mile) territorial waters zone around them. The whole "international waters" claim is so much self-serving crap. The definition of piracy is when you maliciously interfere with the passage of a ship on the open sea in "international waters". You don't get to do what you want in "international waters".

[Sixstrings]

Had a look at the GP site, to try to figure out what their issue with Gazprom is:

Is Gazprom Neft preparing to drill in the Russian Arctic without an environmental review?

According to an official letter from the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Use (Rospriradnadzor) to Greenpeace Russia, as of the end of July 2013 the company was lacking both an environmental impact assessment certificate for the drilling rig GSP Jupiter’s technical documentation, and also lacking the rig’s documentation for constructing a well in the Barents Sea at Dolginskoye field.

...

The company intended to start drilling an exploratory well at Dolginskoye between May and October 2013, during the ice-free period. Just a few days ago Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at the G20 Summit that “No project in the fragile Arctic will be implemented without the strictest environmental assessment.”

...

Based on this Greenpeace Russia sent letters in June 2013 to the Russian Ministry for Subsoil Use and the Ministry for Natural Resources asking them to stop GSP Jupiter from drilling at Dolginskoye.

“This is just the most recent example in a long list of Gazprom’s irresponsible and dangerous operations with regards to Arctic drilling. Last year, Gazprom Neft Shelf was preparing to drill at Prirazlomnoe field without an approved oil spill response plan. In 2011 Gazprom’s subsidiary Gazflot started drilling in the Okhotsk Sea without an environmental impact assessment, and afterwards the infamous Kolskaya rig that was contracted for that drilling overturned and sank while it was being towed killing 53 people.” Commented Vladimir Chuprov, Energy Unit Head of Greenpeace Russia.
http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/news/16-09-2013_Dolginskoe_EIA/

They seem to have some valid issues to be protesting about, if Gazprom is cutting corners?

[Sixstrings]

One of the jailed Greenpeace "pirates." Wow, what a dangerous, swarthy swashbuckling pirate she is! 14 years prison isn't enough, should be a life sentence to protect honest merchants on the high seas from the likes of her:

'Terrifying': Greenpeace activist Alex Harris speaks about her ordeal in a Russian prison after being released on bail on charges of hooliganism over a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic

Alex Harris, 27, said she was 'terrified' when taken to jail in Murmansk
She was forced to spend 23 hours a day alone in her cell
Used painstaking method to communicate with fellow inmate next door
'One tap was A, two taps was B. Sometimes took 23 taps to do one letter'

The group were originally charged with piracy, an offence that carries a 15-year prison sentence, which Ms Harris feared would mean she could never have children.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2515573/Greenpeace-Arctic-protesters-tapped-messages-radiators-Russian-jail.html

Here's another of the GP crew:



He looks like a hispter, wow another dangerous pirate Russia has saved the high seas from.

This whole thing would be funny and farcical, if not for the fact that if convicted these people will spend years in prison, in one of those "work camps" Sparky mentioned.

It's not right. This was a protest, it was civil disobedience, and a mature democracy understands the role and importance of civil disobedience. You don't go bringing the felony hammer down on what are very minor misdemeanor offenses, like climbing a rope to unfurl a save the polar bears sign, or Pussy Riot protesting Putin in a church.

I see that they have at least dropped the charges from drugs and piracy on down to "hooliganism" -- but that's still years in prison, same as Pussy Riot got.

[John_A]

One of the jailed Greenpeace "pirates." Wow, what a dangerous, swarthy swashbuckling pirate she is! 14 years prison isn't enough, should be a life sentence to protect honest merchants on the high seas from the likes of her:

She is lucky to be alive. Next time the Russians may decide to stop folks from boarding their installations in a proper and perfectly legal way, instead of going all soft and sissified during this particular event.

[Subjectivist]

One of the jailed Greenpeace "pirates." Wow, what a dangerous, swarthy swashbuckling pirate she is! 14 years prison isn't enough, should be a life sentence to protect honest merchants on the high seas from the likes of her:

She is lucky to be alive. Next time the Russians may decide to stop folks from boarding their installations in a proper and perfectly legal way, instead of going all soft and sissified during this particular event.

It is likely that some people in the Russian government are thinking if they had just sunk the ship with all hands the whole story would have faded into obscurity by now and a clear message would have been sent in the process.

I say Greenpeace needs to try this stunt on Iran, North Korea or China and see how that works out for them.

[Strummer]

it was civil disobedience

No it wasn't. Civil disobedience is something you, as a citizen, can do in your own country, either against your own government or against a foreign power occupying your country.

[John_A]

I say Greenpeace needs to try this stunt on Iran, North Korea or China and see how that works out for them.

Or the Russians need to grow some testicles. Never would have suspected them for being pansies, but putting on a good face for the Olympics might be affecting their normal disposition. Certainly they wouldn't normally want to look like wimps after seeing how the US Navy handles these things.

[sparky]

.
See it as a progression ,
first time , nothing much ,
second , the strong arm of the law give you a pat on the cheek
third , Mmmhhh ......!!!

[Sixstrings]

American Greenpeace Captain Fears Russian Prison

That evening, as Willcox was exercising on an elliptical machine in the ship's gym, a Russian helicopter swooped overhead. The commandos, dressed in black with no insignia, rappelled onto the Arctic Sunrise's deck and barked orders at the crew.

"Just commands going 'move' or 'stop,'" he recalled. "When a guy's carrying a machine gun you get the idea."

The commandos rounded up the crew, searched them, and locked them in a room. Then they confiscated everyone's alcohol and, according to other crewmembers, proceeded to get very, very drunk.

The next day, as the Arctic Sunrise was being towed to the Russian port city of Murmansk, Willcox was locked in his cabin but thought he had little to fear. He had protested in Russia twice before.

"We thought we knew Russia," he said. "I'm not very worried. This has happened before. We've been taken over before. I've gotten boarded by the French off Polynesia. It's part of the game. We thought we'll be under arrest after Murmansk and well be out of there."

Those months in jail, with no end visible and the threat of many more years in prison looming, provided much time for self-reflection.

Willcox is passionate about the environment and deeply fearful of the threat of climate change. He says even if he had known it would result in a two month jail sentence, he would still would have gotten on that boat.

But was it worth up to a decade and a half in prison? No way.

"This is a hugely important campaign. Climate change is huge. I am sincerely deeply worried about the future of my kids. But by the same token I'm not going to jail for 10 or 15 years over a demonstration," he said.

Willcox is not yet a free man.

Though prosecutors have backed off the piracy charges, he still faces charges of hooliganism which carry a maximum jail term of seven years.

"You keep telling yourself, I know it's not going to go like that, I know I'm going to be out one month, two months, six months. I know this can't go on, but it's going on. It's still going on," he said.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/veteran-greenpeace-captain-fears-russian-prison/story?id=21019694&page=2

It sounds like they honestly had no idea they could wind up in Russian prison for years and years over this climate change protest.

According to the crew, the Russian coast guard were commandos wearing all black and ski masks and no insignias, and the crew says the commandos took their alcohol and "got very drunk."

[John_A]

American Greenpeace Captain Fears Russian Prison

Good. If he survives, maybe he'll think twice about being a pirate next time. Or worse yet, convincing gullible others to tag along and pretending that it'll all just be good fun.

[Sixstrings]

Good. If he survives, maybe he'll think twice about being a pirate next time. Or worse yet, convincing gullible others to tag along and pretending that it'll all just be good fun.

Is there any greenpeace activity that you support?

What if Japan went hardcore and cracked down on them, commandos seizing their ship and charging with piracy and off to prison they go.

What they do is overly dangerous sometimes, those Japanese whalers are much more threatened than just climbing up a rig. Personally I'm glad GP is out there making it somewhat bothersome to hunt the great whales. If not for them, without that pressure, Japanese may be eating more whales "for scientific research."

And that's the point of protest. Maybe Gazprom is cutting corners, maybe GP is right and Gazprom didn't have a oil spill recovery plan or whatever. Pressure like this is a GOOD thing in a non-tyrannical society, it forces business to make some changes and then everyone benefits. If business can just pick up the phone and send people to the gulags, then there's no pressure to do the right thing.

[John_A]

Good. If he survives, maybe he'll think twice about being a pirate next time. Or worse yet, convincing gullible others to tag along and pretending that it'll all just be good fun.

Is there any greenpeace activity that you support?

I am not aware of what they stand for, so I cannot say I know if I would or not.

if I recall correctly, they are just another group with extreme views, for some reason or another. To them those reasons are probably very important, as is the case with zealots, and with such zealots the ends usually justify the means.

In this case, the means appears to be boarding/spraypainting/interfering with ships/vessels/installations built by/run by/doing things they disagree with.

In this case they appear to have been treated very leniently (i.e. they survived their attempt at interference).

What if Japan went hardcore and cracked down on them, commandos seizing their ship and charging with piracy and off to prison they go.

Sounds reasonable. I am surprised Japan doesn't protect their research whaling expeditions the same way from the folks trying to get them killed in the Southern Ocean, by now every ship that has tried to collide with their vessels in the open sea should have been sunk by gunfire. Or, alternatively, if it was so important to stop the japanese whaling expeditions then naval ships from Australia or some other interested country should have sunk the research whaling ships.

All of this running around just to look impotent appears to be extremely wasteful of fossil fuels and whatnot, to accomplish nothing.

What they do is overly dangerous sometimes, those Japanese whalers are much more threatened than just climbing up a rig. Personally I'm glad GP is out there making it somewhat bothersome to hunt the great whales. If not for them, without that pressure, Japanese may be eating more whales "for scientific research."

But Japan still is eating whales, thus demonstrating the impotence of the media blowhards like Watson. But he does have a show on the telly, so he must be important, even if he can't stop the Japanese from eating whale meat.

And that's the point of protest. Maybe Gazprom is cutting corners, maybe GP is right and Gazprom didn't have a oil spill recovery plan or whatever.

Not having a recovery plan has worked pretty well since the discovery of oil, zealots who know nothing about drilling offshore certainly are in no position to order around an industry they have never participated in, and are paid simply to interfere with.

Pressure like this is a GOOD thing in a non-tyrannical society, it forces business to make some changes and then everyone benefits. If business can just pick up the phone and send people to the gulags, then there's no pressure to do the right thing.

Sometimes picking up the phone and sending people to the gulags IS the right thing. Certainly it is much more right than what they deserved, and that the US military might dish out in the same circumstances.

T shirts for everyone!

[Synapsid]

According to The Economist for 30 November, New Zealand does not allow protest vessels within 500 meters (take THAT, Kiwi spellcheckers!) of a ship or drilling platform. I haven't heard that Russia has such a law but I wouldn't be surprised if they have one soon.

I wonder how many countries have something spelled out, intended to address how to deal with protest vessels.

[Sixstrings]

According to The Economist for 30 November, New Zealand does not allow protest vessels within 500 meters (take THAT, Kiwi spellcheckers!) of a ship or drilling platform.

Mmmkay well see that's how it's handled, if there's a problem or potential problem then you pass a law about it. A nation as large as Russia shouldn't just have a "hooliganism" law and that seems to be it, with it applied to everything from Pussy Riot to Greenpeace. That's not good rule of law, you have laws that match crimes and are clear and everyone knows about it.

If something happens that you forgot to pass a law about, THEN go and pass a law like NZ did.

If someone tried to board a NZ rig before that law, then the closest law they had was probably simple tresspass and that should be the Russian charge too. It's really unfair to just have this "hooliganism" law and the government just waves the "hooligan" stick around and it's off to prison for 7 years.

[John_A]

It's really unfair to just have this "hooliganism" law and the government just waves the "hooligan" stick around and it's off to prison for 7 years.

It is outrageously fair for those charged with breaking a law rather than receiving their just rewards for trying to board a vessel without permission.

[Tanada]

You know I am fairly confident that international law still allows ships and other structures at sea to resist boarding without permission by non-governmental agents with any means necessary up to and including lethal force. The Captain interviewed above should be thanking God, or his lucky stars, or whatever his preference is that his ship wasn't sunk under him. Legally he is responsible for the actions taken by his crew or carried out by non-crew using his vessel as a staging platform. If all or some of the crew end up with long prison terms it will be his fault, as a Captain he is required to know the international law and is expected to follow it to the best of his ability. At the bare minimum he should have his Captain certification permanently revoked with a life long ban on ever commanding another vessel.

[Graeme]

Climate Assessment Calls for Greenpeace Energy [R]evolution

Last week the Obama administration released the National Climate Assessment report. As the report shows, climate impacts are happening now - whether it's constant extreme weather alerts, droughts and wildfires in the West, or hurricane superstorms, or the melting Arctic leading to an extremely snowy winter in the South. But climate denialism continues to grip leaders in the Congress, some of whom seem to do everything in their power to defend climate polluters and fend off the transition away from fossil fuels.

Fortunately, the American Energy [R]evolution is happening whether the Koch brothers like it or not.

In a Senate briefing May 12, Greenpeace released the Energy [R]evolution: Sustainable USA Energy Outlook. The E[R] aims to wean the economy off dirty fuels as thoroughly and quickly as possible, and in a way that is technologically, politically and ecologically realistic. This report is part of a global analysis showing how the international economy can transition to nearly 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, while assuming no new 'breakthrough technologies.' In some ways this transition is happening even more quickly than we proposed in previous scenarios, as Chapter four shows.

The driving goal of the E[R] is stopping global climate disruption, which is caused primarily by burning coal, oil and methane gas. But the reasons to modernize our energy system are innumerable. By phasing out fossil fuels and phasing in renewable energy we can achieve the following goals:

huffingtonpost

[Graeme]

'Energy [R]evolution': Nearly 100% Renewable Is Doable, says Report

Produced by both Greenpeace and the Global Wind Energy Council, which represents the international wind industry, a new report released Monday—titled Energy [R]evolution - A Sustainable USA Energy Outlook (pdf)—details how by 2050, renewable energy sources could be producing close to 97% of electricity in the U.S. and approximately 94% of the country's needs for heating and cooling homes and businesses.

"The driving goal of the Energy [R]evolution," reads the report's introduction, "is stopping global climate disruption, which is caused primarily by burning coal, oil, and methane gas. But the reasons to modernize our energy system are in numerable".

The five key principles behind the "Energy [R]evolution" will be to:

• Implement renewable solutions, especially through decentralized energy systems and grid expansions
• Respect the natural limits of the environment
• Phase out dirty, unsustainable energy sources
• Create greater equity in the use of resources
• Decouple economic growth from the consumption of fossil fuels

commondreams

[Tanada]

Ruling on the Greenpeace activists is to come down next week, any bets on what it says?

Russia's Investigative Committee recently told Greenpeace that it had extended its investigation into the Arctic 30 case until September 24th 2014, despite the fact that the criminal case against the 30 has been dropped.

[ROCKMAN]

"...despite the fact that the criminal case against the 30 has been dropped." Maybe they're think about a civil suite against GP.