Tag Greenpeace

Risky protests

Yesterday’s World Cup final was interesting in more ways than one: Protest group Pussy Riot, long a thorn in Vladimir Putin’s side, claimed responsibility Sunday for four people who brought the World Cup final to a brief halt by running…

Lessons from Net wars

While debating the Meredith Kercher murder case on discussion boards and in comments sections, I came to believe that most pro-guilt, anti-Knox posters were arguing in bad faith. Rather, they are propagandists using a variety of tools: lies, half-truths, misconceptions,…

A very particular Soviet green

An interview with the partner of a Greenpeace activist. There are images of cells, painted in a very particular Soviet green, with underwear hanging on string between the sink and the grey bars of the bunk beds, a small table…

28 of 29 of 30

As of this afternoon, I believe 29 of the 30 Greenpeace activists from the Arctic Sunrise had been granted bail and 28 had been freed. One Briton was still in jail on a technicality. They can even leave Russia pending…

A name accused of being un-Armenian

Shortly after the Boston marathon bombings, the media reported that the Tsarnaev brothers were brainwashed by an Islamic preacher known as “Misha.” It turned out that Misha was neither Islamic nor a preacher nor a brainwasher. His full name is Mikhail…

When in doubt, call them hooligans

Russia has announced that it will be replacing the original piracy charges against the Greenpeace 30 with hooliganism and, for some, resistance to lawful authorities. Hooliganism is becoming a one size fits all charge – unexpectedly linking Pussy Riot and…

The irony of it all

Greenpeace’s Russian lawyers unearthed a curious court ruling dating back to 2009. The Gazprom unit which owns the Prirazlomnaya platform was involved in a dispute with the tax authorities over value added tax (VAT) reimbursement. To get the VAT back,…

Greenpeace links

1. Article 227 of the Russian Federation criminal code (“Piracy”). 2. Eugene Kontorovich and other law professors and lawyers of the Volokh Conspiracy. 3. An interesting discussion at Opinio Juris. 4. An Australian law professor’s unexpectedly relevant 2012 article – “Can an…

Gazprom’s $3-bln platform

Offshore oil production is less than 3% of Russia’s total but Russia has grandiose plans for oil and gas production in the Arctic ocean as well as the Black Sea and the Far Eastern seas. ExxonMobil’s and Shell/s experience operating…