A FATHER previously accused of being a ‘pirate’ by the Russians was due to spend Christmas with his family after months in prison.
Frank Hewetson, 45, of Chevening Road, Queens Park, was arrested by the Russian authorities for ‘piracy’ from a Greenpeace ship in international waters.
After months of cold conditions and numerous court appearances Mr Hewetson, who lives with his partner Nina Gold and their children Nell, 16, and Joe, 13, could be home in time for Christmas.
The Russian parliament voted an amendment which allowed amnesty for people accused of hooliganism on Wednesday December 18.
The activists were originally accused of piracy but this was changed to hooliganism and now legal proceedings will be dropped.
Mr Hewetson and 29 others, 27 activists and two freelance journalists, spent two months in prison after a peaceful protest in the Arctic.
He was released on bail at the end of November and has been in St Petersburg since then.
The legal proceedings against the Arctic 30 are now almost certain to come to an end and the 26 non-Russians will be free to return home to their families as soon as they are given exit visas by the Russian authorities.
Peter Willcox is the Captain of the Arctic Sunrise.
He said: “I might soon be going home to my family, but I should never have been charged and jailed in the first place. We sailed north to bear witness to a profound environmental threat but our ship was stormed by masked men wielding knives and guns. Now it’s nearly over and we may soon be truly free, but there’s no amnesty for the Arctic. We may soon be home, but the Arctic remains a fragile global treasure under assault by oil companies and the rising temperatures they’re driving. We went there to protest against this madness. We were never the criminals here.”
It is currently unclear when the non-Russians amongst the Arctic 30 will be able to leave the country.
On September 18, a small group of Greenpeace International activists approached the Gazprom Prirazlomnaya oil platform, in the Pechora Sea off the Russian coast, as part of a peaceful protest against Arctic oil drilling.
