Eleven Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Iran's Shirin Ebadi and South Africa's Bishop Desmond Tutu, have written a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him to prevent 28 detained Greenpeace activists, a photographer, and a videographer from being convicted on piracy charges.
The Nobel laureates urge Putin to "do all you can to ensure that the excessive charges of piracy...are dropped, and that any charges brought are consistent with international and Russian law."
The 30 detainees were aboard a Greenpeace ship, the "Arctic Sunrise," that was protesting against Russian oil drilling in the Arctic when Russian forces took them into custody.
The piracy charges they face could see them imprisoned for up to 15 years.
The Nobel laureates urge Putin to "do all you can to ensure that the excessive charges of piracy...are dropped, and that any charges brought are consistent with international and Russian law."
The 30 detainees were aboard a Greenpeace ship, the "Arctic Sunrise," that was protesting against Russian oil drilling in the Arctic when Russian forces took them into custody.
The piracy charges they face could see them imprisoned for up to 15 years.