The 30 Greenpeace activists accused of storming an oil rig in the Arctic have been moved to a jail in St Petersburg, the environmental group has claimed.
Greenpeace said it understood from diplomatic sources that the 30 are being moved from a detention centre in Murmansk to a jail in St Petersburg.
The activists, who include six Britons, were charged with hooliganism last week after originally facing charges of piracy over the incident in September.
Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said the move to St Petersburg would make access to the activists easier, but insisted they should not be in jail.
“St Petersburg has some daylight in the winter months, unlike Murmansk, and families and consular officials will now find it easier to visit the 30,” he said.
“But there is no guarantee that conditions inside the new detention centre will be any better than in Murmansk. In fact, they could be worse.
“There is no justification whatsoever to keep the Arctic 30 in any prison for a day longer. They are prisoners of conscience who acted out of a determination to protect us all, and they should be free.”
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The Netherlands will next week bring a case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea calling for the 30 to be released and Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise ship to be returned.
A group of 28 Greenpeace activists, a Russian photographer and a British videographer have been held since their ship, the Arctic Sunrise was seized by the Russian coast guard after protesting outside a Gazprom-owned oil rig September 18.
Greenpeace claim the Russian authorities have failed to withdraw the piracy charges, which carry a 15-year jail sentence.