Marco Weber, the Swiss Greenpeace activist arrested by Russian authorities more than two months ago following a protest at an Arctic oil platform, has been released on bail along with 20 fellow protesters.
In total, 30 protestors were arrested on September 18 after launching a protest on the Prirazlomnoye oil platform, run by the Russian state-owned Gazprom, from aboard Greenpeace’s «Arctic Sunrise» vessel.
According to Greenpeace Switzerland, the 28-year-old Weber was released Wednesday upon payment of two million Russian roubles, or CHF55,000. The news was first announced via Twitter.
Despite the release of most of the protesters, Greenpeace has said the affair has not been resolved and many questions remain about the protesters’ futures.
«We have no idea under what conditions our friends will live when they are released, whether they will be under house arrest or if they will have the right to leave,»said the organisation’s executive director, Kumi Naidoo, on Tuesday.
The 30 protesters aboard the Arctic Sunrise were arrested by Russian officials near the oli platform and charged with piracy after their boat was towed to the port of Murmansk. Later, the piracy charge was reduced to «hooliganism», which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
During his captivity, Weber described in a letter the difficult conditions he and the other protesters were being held in, with extremely cold temperatures and daily walks which were «demeaning» in nature. «The room is dirty and wet,» he said of where he was being held.