Greenpeace International activist Alexandre Paul leaves a jail after being freed on bail in St. Petersburg inNovember. Paul, the front of his parka unzipped, has a wide smile and is carrying an enormous blue and white duffel bag as he is greeted by three well-wishers outside the half-open door of the grey-walled prison on what appears to be a dark and gloomy night.

Greenpeace International activist Alexandre Paul, center, leaves a jail after being freed on bail in St. Petersburg in November. He is due home Friday.
Photo Credit: Associated Press / Pavel Golovkin

Greenpeace activists coming home

One of two Canadian Greenpeace activists detained in Russia since September was expected back in Canada on Friday.

The mother of Alexandre Paul says Alexandre Paul has been cleared to leave Russia and is scheduled to fly into Trudeau airport in Montreal Trudeau airport Friday afternoon.

The other activist, Paul Ruzycki of Port Colborne, Ontario, is expected home this weekend.

The two men were among 30 people arrested in September following a protest
outside a Russian oil rig in the Arctic. They spent two months in jail before they were granted bail in November. Their ship was also seized.

Hooliganism charges against the activists were later dropped after Russia’s parliament passed an amnesty law that was seen as an attempt by the Kremlin to tamp down the criticism of Russia’s human rights record before the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February.

Categories: Environment & Animal Life, International, Politics, Society
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