By IRINA TITOVA
Greenpeace International activist and captain of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise Peter Willcox of the U.S. listens from inside a barred enclosure at a courtroom during a hearing that is considering investigators’ request to extend the detention of 30 members of the Arctic Sunrise in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. A Russian court on Tuesday granted bail to Greenpeace protesters from Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Poland and Finland, the first foreign activists eligible to be released from jail while awaiting trial for participating in a demonstration outside a Russian oil rig. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
Peter Willcox
Greenpeace International activist and captain of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise Peter Willcox of the U.S. sits inside a barred enclosure at a courtroom during a hearing that is considering investigators’ request to extend the detention of 30 members of the Arctic Sunrise in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. A Russian court on Tuesday granted bail to Greenpeace protesters from Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Poland and Finland, the first foreign activists eligible to be released from jail while awaiting trial for participating in a demonstration outside a Russian oil rig. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
Mannes Ubels
Greenpeace International activist Mannes Ubels of the Netherlands stands inside a barred enclosure at a courtroom during a hearing that is considering the investigators’ request to extend the detention of 30 members of the Arctic Sunrise Greenpeace International ship in St.Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013.A Russian court on Tuesday granted bail to Greenpeace protesters from Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Poland and Finland the first foreign activists eligible to be released from jail while awaiting trial for participating in a demonstration outside a Russian oil rig. (AP Photo/ Evgeny Feldman)
Faiza Oulahsen
Greenpeace International activist Faiza Oulahsen speaks from inside a barred enclosure at a courtroom during a hearing that is considering the investigators’ request to extend the detention of 30 members of the Arctic Sunrise Greenpeace International ship in St.Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013.A Russian court on Tuesday granted bail to Greenpeace protesters from Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Poland and Finland the first foreign activists eligible to be released from jail while awaiting trial for participating in a demonstration outside a Russian oil rig. (AP Photo/ Evgeny Feldman)
Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel
Greenpeace International activist Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel of Brazil holds a poster during a court hearing that considers investigators request to extend the detention of 30 members of the Arctic Sunrise Greenpeace International ship in St.Petersburg, Russia, Monday, Nov. 18, 2013. The 30 people arrested following a Greenpeace protest at an Arctic oil rig were transferred to St. Petersburg from Murmansk. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — The first of 30 Greenpeace activists arrested by Russia in an Arctic protest two months ago was freed on bail Wednesday, in a case that has sparked international criticism of Russia.
The release of other detainees could moderate the criticism, which has drawn attention both to Russia’s ambitions in the Arctic and its hard line against dissent.
Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel walked out of a St. Petersburg pre-trial jail holding a sign reading “Save The Arctic.” She did not make comments to journalists before getting into a car with her lawyer.
Dmitry Artamonov, a Greenpeace representative, said she is “now staying in a safe place,” but he declined to give her location.
The 30 were arrested in September after a Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, entered Arctic waters despite Russian warnings. Some of the activists tried to scale an offshore drilling platform owned by the state natural gas giant Gazprom.
Greenpeace contends Arctic drilling poses potentially catastrophic environmental dangers. But Russia bristles at criticism of its oil and gas industry, which is the backbone of the country’s economy.
Russian courts have granted bail this week to 17 of the detainees, but they have yet to be let out of jail. Hearings are scheduled for another 12.
All of those detained were initially charged with piracy, but investigators later changed the charge to a lesser one of hooliganism.
One activist was denied bail on Monday, but the approval of bail to others suggested a change in official strategy in the case.
A Greenpeace lawyer said an appeal will be filed to release Australian Colin Russell as well. Russell does not appear to have been singled out in being denied bail; his hearing simply came up first.
“None of our people will be truly free until they are all back home with their families,” the group’s international executive director Kumi Naidoo said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear whether any of those approved for release would be free to leave the country or move about the city.
On Wednesday, the ship’s skipper, Peter Willcox, and four other Greenpeace activists were granted bail of 2 million rubles ($61,500) each.
