ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 18 (Interfax) - The St. Petersburg Primorsky District Court has extended the arrest of Greenpeace activist Colin Russel, a citizen of Australia.
The investigators believed that the defendant may flee investigators and the court if released. The defendants had asked for his arrest to be extended by three months until February 24.
Russel said he has no intention of hiding from the justice system and intends to get justice.
The lawyer for the defendant said that Russel's crime has been reclassified, changing from piracy to hooliganism.
On Monday, the Kalininsky and Primorsky courts of St. Petersburg began considering requests seeking the extension of the arrest of thirty activists of Greenpeace and crewmembers of the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise. The courts are expected to consider the cases of six people, including photographer Denis Sinyakov, within one day.
Thirty crewmembers of the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise were detained by Russian border guards in the Pechora Sea while trying to hold a protest against oil extraction activities on the Prirazlomnaya oilrig. The environmentalists were taken to Murmansk. The Greenpeace activists were arrested for two months. The environmentalists were later transferred to detention facilities in St. Petersburg.