Baku-APA. A Russian medic and a freelance journalist who were among 30 people arrested for a Greenpeace protest against offshore Arctic drilling were granted bail on Monday in a case that has drawn fierce criticism abroad, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Colin Russell, an Australian, was denied bail by a separate court earlier on Monday. He was a radio operator on the Arctic Sunrise, the Greenpeace ship used for the September 28 protest.
Western leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed concern to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the case and Western celebrities have voiced support for the Greenpeace campaigners. Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney has asked Putin to help secure their release.
The 30 arrested over the protest, in which activists tried to scale the offshore Prirazlomnaya oil rig that is crucial to Russia's drive to tap Arctic energy resources, face up to seven years in jail if convicted of hooliganism.
The court ruled that Yekaterina Zaspa, a Russian medic on the Arctic Sunrise who was not among those who tried to climb the rig, could be released on 2 million roubles ($61,300) bail.
The judge gave a similar ruling to Denis Sinyakov, a 36-year-old photographer who was on board the Arctic Sunrise when Russian coastguards forced their way on after the protests.
Courts have repeatedly denied previous bail requests from all 30 people, whose term of custody ends on November 24.
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