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As 17 of Arctic 30 Granted Bail, Greenpeace Chief Calls Fossil Fuel CEOs “The Real Hooligans”

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A Russian court has granted bail to nine more people detained in a Greenpeace action against Russian oil drilling in the Arctic. They are among 28 activists and two journalists who have been jailed for two months. “With 30 of my colleagues facing as much as seven years in prison in Russia for a peaceful action to protest arctic oil drilling, and are being accused of hooligans, let’s be very clear: The real hooligans are those CEOs and other leaders of the fossil fuel industry who are not prepared to accept that they have to change,” says Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International. The Arctic 30 face charges of “hooliganism” which could carry up to seven years in prison. With the latest rulings, 17 of the group have been granted bail so far.

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This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Greenpeace—latest news I want to give you right now—has just tweeted that 17 of the Greenpeace Arctic 30, imprisoned in Russia for a protest against an offshore oil rig, have been granted bail in Russia. Kumi Naidoo, the executive director of Greenpeace, just flew in from Amsterdam to inform delegates and activists about the latest news.

KUMI NAIDOO: History teaches us that when we have been confronted with a massive challenge, injustice and so on, those struggles only moved forward when decent men and women stepped forward and said, “Enough is enough, and we’re prepared to put our lives on the line. We’re prepared to go to prison, if necessary.” And therefore, as we gather here, I would say, with 30 of my colleagues facing as much as seven years in prison in Russia for a peaceful action to protest Arctic oil drilling, and are being accused of hooligans, let’s be very clear: The hooligans, the real hooligans, are those CEOs and other leaders of the fossil fuel industry who are not prepared to accept that, in fact, they have to change. So, we will see increased resistance, but general protests like we normally do, but I suspect you—we have to also recognize that it’s going to take increased civil disobedience, as well.

AMY GOODMAN: You have just been watching or listening to Kumi Naidoo, the executive director of Greenpeace. We’ll be speaking with him tomorrow on Democracy Now! here in Warsaw, Poland, to get the latest news about the Arctic 30.

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