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Arctic 30 New Zealanders Return Home
29 December 2013
Arctic 30 New Zealanders
Return Home
The two New Zealanders who
spent two months in a Russian prison following a peaceful
protest at an Arctic oil platform have returned
home.
David Haussmann and Jonathan Beauchamp are
now back in New Zealand and will spend some time with their
families.
The two were among 30 people arrested
following the protest at a Gazprom-operated oil platform.
They were all facing charges of hooliganism.
The
Russian parliament recently voted for an amnesty for those
charged with hooliganism, which left the New Zealanders free
to return home.
Bunny McDiarmid, the executive
director for Greenpeace New Zealand, said:
“I
can’t stop smiling. It’s great that David and Jon are
back home.
“They should never have been charged
in the first place, and it’s ridiculous that they were
locked up for months over a peaceful protest to protect the
Arctic.
“But they’re back in New Zealand now,
and they’re going to spend some time with the sun on their
faces and their whanau in their arms.”
The
campaign to free the Arctic 30 has seen 860 protests in 46
countries and in more than 150 cities worldwide, while more
than 2.6 million people wrote to Russian embassies.
Supporters included Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, Jude Law,
Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard, Ewan McGregor,
Juliette Lewis, Ricky Martin, Edward Norton, Gael García
Bernal, Ricardo Darín, Alejandro Sanz, Pedro Almodóvar and
scores more famous names.
Political support was
offered by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Angela
Merkel, David Cameron, François Hollande, Ban Ki-moon and
Hillary Clinton. Twelve Nobel Peace Prize winners called for
their release, including Desmond Tutu, Aung San Suu Kyi and
Lech
Walesa.
ENDS
Greenpeace
Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice.
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
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