Twenty eight activists and two journalists begin 800-mile journey from Murmansk to pre-trial detention centres
Twenty-eight Greenpeace activists and two journalists detained by Russian authorities for nearly two months are being transported by train from the northern city of Murmansk to pre-trial detention centres more than 800 miles away in Saint Petersburg.
They were captured in September after armed Russian border guards stormed their ship during a protest in which campaigners tried to scale an Arctic drilling platform. The move, rumoured for several days, was confirmed when lawyers who tried to visit them were told by officials that the 30 were already being moved. The 26-hour journey began at 9.10 am local time on Monday.
Ben Ayliffe, Greenpeace International Arctic campaigner, said: "We don't yet know if the relocation of these wrongfully accused people will see an improvement in terms of their detention conditions and basic human rights.
"From the information we have these cars are not heated," said Ayliffe. "We have advised the 30 to dress in warm clothes and shoes. We have also organised prompt deliveries of additional supplies of warm outfits, in addition to the garments that we have been able to get to them in the last couple of weeks."
Greenpeace said Saint Petersburg has some daylight in the winter months, unlike Murmansk. Families and consular officials would find it easier to visit the 30, who include six Britons among 18 nationalities represented.
But there was no guarantee that conditions inside any new detention centre would be any better than in Murmansk.
The move came as relatives of the Britons prepared to meet David Lidington, the minister of state for Europe at the Foreign Office, whose brief includes Russia. David Cameron last week told Russia's Vladimir Putin he considers the charges of "hooliganism" excessive, while William Hague, the foreign secretary, has also raised the issue of the detentions with his opposite number, Sergei Lavrov.
Greenpeace says the so-called Arctic 30 still face piracy charges, despite Moscow saying those charges would be withdrawn. Piracy has a maximum sentence of 15 years, while hooliganism has a seven-year maximum.
Lawyers representing the Netherlands, where the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise is registered, have argued that Russia violated UN regulations when the ship was seized.
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