A group of 30 Greenpeace activists stuck in Russia awaiting trial received their freedom for Christmas this year.
Greenpeace announced Wednesday that Russia dropped criminal hooliganism charges against each of the so-called "Arctic 30." The organization also said 14 of the group's 26 non-Russian members were cleared to leave Russia Thursday, and it expects the rest to receive clearance Friday.
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The protestors were taken into custody Sept. 19 when armed Russian military members boarded their ship, the Arctic Sunrise, during a protest of oil drilling in arctic waters. The Russian government eventually reduced the charges against the group from piracy to hooliganism and released the group members on bail in November. Non-Russian members of the group were going to have to remain in the country until their trial.
After an international outcry for their release, the turning point for the Arctic 30 came last week when Russia passed an amnesty law aimed at first offenders, minors and women with small children. An amendment added to the bill before its passage extended the amnesty to those charged with hooliganism.
"I'm pleased and relieved the charges have been dropped, but we should not have been charged at all ," Peter Willcox, captain of the Arctic Sunrise, said in a statement.
In addition to the Arctic 30, two jailed members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot walked free Monday, several months ahead of schedule, under the new law.
Some say the bill is a move by the Russian government to sidestep controversial issues during the upcoming Winter Olympics, scheduled to take place in Sochi in February. Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina called the law a "PR stunt," telling Russian TV stations she would have refused the amnesty "without a doubt" if she had a choice.
Members of the Greenpeace collective seem more willing to accept the amnesty.
"Now I’m going home to my bed, my wife, my kids and my life," Arctic 30 member Dima Litvinov, of Sweden, said as he boarded a train Thursday. "I’m leaving Russia feeling like we won something here."
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