13:46, 13 September 2016

"Greenpeace" activists detained in Krasnodar before press conference

Forest fire-fighting. Photo: http://ewnc.org/node/23065

Policemen detained "Greenpeace" activists in Krasnodar on their way to a press conference, dedicated to fighting forest fires in the Krasnodar Territory. Four persons were taken to the police station of the Tsentralny District of Krasnodar.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 12 ecologists and volunteers made a decision to stop, ahead of time, their fire-fighting expedition to the region, stating fears for their lives and health, as well as fearing pressure from law enforcement bodies.

On September 8 the camp of the anti-fire expedition in the Krasnodar Territory was blocked by a group of Kuban Cossacks; and at night on September 9, an armed attack was committed on the camp, which resulted in two hospitalized members of the expedition with injuries. On September 11, the police of Adygea detained the "Greenpeace" and "EcoWatch" activists, who had come to extinguish the fire in Adygea. On the same day they were released.

The activists were released three hours after detention, after they were fingerprinted and gave explanations about what, when, and for what purpose they had arrived in the Krasnodar Territory, the "Novaya Gazeta" quotes Grigory Kuksin, the head of the "Greenpeace" anti-fire expedition.

The ecologists' press conference passed without the detainees. Makhail Kreindlin, the manager of the Russian "Greenpeace" programme for protection of especially guarded territories, said that the expedition was upset about the situation, because of which the activists have to go to Moscow immediately after the press conference, the portal "Yuga.ru" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.