International maritime court tells Russia to free Greenpeace ship

Reuters
Updated
Greenpeace activist Dmitri Litvinov from Sweden, one of the 30 people who were arrested over a Greenpeace protest at the Prirazlomnaya oil rig, holds a banner in a defendants' cage during a court session in St. Petersburg, November 22, 2013. REUTERS/Igor Podgorny/Greenpeace/Handout via Reuters

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - An international maritime tribunal on Friday ordered Russia to release a Greenpeace ship and 30 people arrested in a protest against Russian Arctic oil drilling.

The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea said it had accepted a request from the Netherlands to order the provisional release of the Dutch-registered ship Arctic Sunrise and its crew, which Russia detained on September 18, sparking international protests.

Russia has previously said it will not accept the tribunal's decision.

Tribunal president judge Judge Shunji Yanai of Japan said the application from the Netherlands for the provisional release was accepted by the votes of 19 judges to two.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan; editing by Erik Kirschbaum and Gareth Jones)

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