MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) – The number of people detained in Russia last month onboard a Greenpeace ship that has been denied bail rose Thursday to 16 after a court ordered Australian radio operator Colin Russell to remain in custody until November 24.
Russell joins nationals of Russia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and four other countries that were previously denied bail as they await trial on piracy charges.
The Arctic Sunrise icebreaker was seized by Russian border guards in mid-September after environmental activists tried to scale an Arctic oil platform run by an affiliate of state-controlled energy giant Gazprom in protest at offshore drilling in the area.
The group of 30 currently in detention, which includes two freelance journalists, could face up to 15 years in jail.
