Ever since becoming the beloved of his fellow extremists in the US Republican Party, Vladimir “GOP Pootie” Putin has followed the Republican lead and declared war on human rights. His forces have recently committed an act of piracy on the high seas by seizing the Arctic Sunrise in international waters and imprisoning her crew.
Armed agents—from Russia’s coast guard service, its security agency the FSB, or both—stormed the ship of Greenpeace activists trying to save the Arctic region from oil and gas drilling on Thursday, and after more than 12 hours without communication, the ‘seized’ Arctic Sunrise on Friday morning is reportedly heading back towards Russian-controlled waters while the 30 crew members remain incommunicado and under armed guard.
According to activists on the ship, Russian FSB agents forced their way into the ship’s radio room and inflicted significant damage to communication equipment. This information came from activists aboard the Arctic Sunrise who were able to communicate for some period via satellite phone, but those communications later went silent…
…Director of the Greenpeace campaign to save the arctic, Ben Ayliffe, was both concerned for his colleagues aboard the Arctic Sunrise and outraged at the actions by Russian officials.
“The safety of our activists remains our top priority and we are working hard to establish what is facing them," said Ayliffe. "They have done nothing to warrant this level of aggression and have been entirely peaceful throughout."
He continued: “The real threat to the Russian Arctic comes not from the crew of the Arctic Sunrise but from Gazprom, one of the most reckless oil companies in the world today.”…
Inserted from <Common Dreams>
We should all condemn this action and demand the immediate return of the ship and release of her crew!
8 Responses to “Arctic Sunrise Seized”
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Dear TC – I thought I might include this on the same subject –
Hi Patricia,
I wouldn't normally send you two emails in 24 hours but I need your help. Our crew are still being held under armed guard on our ship The Arctic Sunrise. I can’t stress enough how urgent it is to get as many people as possible to email the Russian Ambassador to the UK demanding the release of our activists immediat
It will only take about one minute to complete and you could help secure the release of the entire crew on board the Arctic Sunrise.
With many thanks,
Ian and the Arctic team "
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/speakout/release-peaceful-protesters
I have already signed it TC – thought I would put the letter here as I looked it up in my search engine and couldn't find anything through some accident of electrons!
Thank you Pat A,
Signed and Shared.
Thanks Pat. In fact I was hoping that one of our petition Mavens would fill0in that gap in my article. I'm amazed that they didn't email one to me, especially since they email me for more money!! Signed!!
Signed. Thanks for sharing.
I recall reading a while back that Gazprom and another international oil company, possibly Shell, were given the go ahead to drill in the Arctic waters off Russia. One area would be inside a national wildlife reserve which is against Russian federal law. Putin is however ensuring that drilling proceeds. But the drilling has been put on hold several times because of safety concerns. Perhaps Russia should be renamed "Putinville".
Unconscionable! Seized in international waters with an international crew.
Pat's petition already signed.
Gazprom is more of a natural gas compamy, but everything else applies.
I signed the petition, and shared on Facebook. Putin is out of control and needs to be reined in quickly.
Thanks Edie. That's why I call him GOP Pootie!