Posted on 09/28/2013 3:56:29 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
MOSCOW — Nearly 30 years ago, Peter Willcox was captain of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior when it was blown up by French agents. Today, the American is in a Russian jail, accused of piracy after members of his latest Greenpeace crew tried to board an offshore oil platform in the Arctic in a protest against drilling.
Willcox, now the 60-year-old captain of the Arctic Sunrise, was among 22 Greenpeace activists from around the world who were ordered detained for two months this week by a court in Murmansk, a Russian port above the Arctic Circle. After a hearing that began early Thursday morning and concluded at 2 a.m. Friday, the court delayed a decision on eight other detainees. They include the group’s spokesman, Dima Litvinov, who has dual Swedish American citizenship.
Russia detained two activists on the rig Sept. 19 and seized the ship in the Pechora Sea on Sept. 20, towing it to Murmansk, where it arrived Tuesday. Conviction on piracy charges could bring up to 15 years in jail.
“Our ship was seized in international waters, and that was a mistake,” Daniel Simons, a Greenpeace lawyer, said Friday, addressing a Moscow news conference via Skype from Murmansk.
The only legal grounds for seizing a ship in those waters, Simons said, are illegal fishing, illegal broadcasting, causing serious pollution or piracy. The Arctic Sunrise was guilty of none of those crimes, he said, and piracy requires two ships. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Check out some of the comments on the ComPost page before they delete them. “If someone did what they did to an American rig they would be dead upon suspician of being a terrorist. Some Americans should stop behaving like spoiled kids. This world is not the playground for people who feel their “ideals” have to be imposed with impunity to everybody else ... just because they happen to hold a US passport.”
Soviet chickens coming home to roost.
If the Russians are smart, they’ll give these pirates about 25 years in prison, and then offer to exchange them for Russians that the US has imprisoned for questionable activities when those Russians traveled outside of Russia.
Exactly, (see my tagline), there is no rule of law in The US.
the political forces in russia wont line up to protect you. now you know.
Yep, and the importance is twofold.
Russia is moving toward more rule of law, and the political forces that would align with Greenpeace are the Marxist/Communist left, indicating that Communism is losing power in Russia.
Apparently they shipped most of it West.
“its like many of these groups, for example Occupy Wall Street, that think they can violate the law because various political forces in the government will line up to protect them.”
Who could ever believe it would be Russia that stands for truth and equally applied law, and calling things for what they are, while the USA would become a corrupt regime that ignores and even encourages law violations by its supporters.
Cap’n Crunch & his merry band of sea hippies are going to enjoy their stretch in the Lubyanka. Hope they like cabbage with their kasha.
AGITPROP. The Soviets were masters of it. SEIU, Acorn, Black Panthers, environmental movement, PETA, the Obama Administration—the list goes on and on.
Isn’t this guy wanted in other countries too?
I’ll go for piracy and extortion of the state and private companies through the propagation of lies as part of an organization intent on taking over world government for its hypocrite beneficiaries, like Gore.
I say Gore should be linked to this case and an Interpole complaint and charge leveled.
“Russell Dalrymple drowned during his last Greenpeace adventure.”
Yes, NBC had to hire a new president. I still miss Seinfeld, and don’t think I’ve watched a network TV show since then.
I like it. I think it would have been better if the Russian Navy had sunk the damn ship after the crew was off it. Sail it off the continental shelf into deep water and let the Russian Navy practice their gunnery skills.
Maynard later examined Edward Teach’s (Blackbeard’s) body, noting that it had been shot no fewer than five times and cut about twenty. He also found several items of correspondence, including a letter to the pirate from Tobias Knight. Teach’s corpse was thrown into the inlet while his head was suspended from the bowsprit of Maynard’s sloop.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.