Finnish Greenpeace activist: “Anything is better than prison”
Speaking as the last of the jailed 30 Greenpeace protesters is released on bail, Finnish activist Sini Saarela tells Yle that she’s not given up hope of being home for Christmas.
The group had been detained since September for their role in a protest against oil drilling in the Russian Arctic.
Speaking to Yle at an undisclosed location in St. Petersburg, Sini Saarela said she was surprised to have been released on bail from her pre-trial detention. However she said she could not predict how her case would proceed.
“Over the past two months I’ve learned that it’s not worth worrying about things you can’t know for sure. I have the same attitude about the future,” Saarela added.
Saarela admitted to feeling “surreal, but relieved”. She described her worries over the fate of Colin Russell, the Australian activist who was the only one of the 30 to have his bail request refused. However, Russell was later released on Thursday following an appeal hearing.
Uncertainty the most difficult part of prison
“On this side of the prison bars uncertainty seems like a small problem, but in prison it was completely different. It was one of the most difficult issues,” the Finnish activist said.
“The best thing was being able to sleep in the dark. And the opportunity to be with other the other Greenpeace members. It was great to be able to talk and hug each other,” she added.
Saarela said that no one knows if and when the activists will be allowed to return to their home countries.
“Of course I hope that I can go home for Christmas. It’s already a great relief that I got out of prison, and even if I have to spend Christmas here I’ll be happy and satisfied. Anything is better than being in prison,” she declared.
Saarela was not able to comment on the details of the protest on an oil drilling platform in Russia’s Pechora Sea, because investigations are still ongoing.
She admitted that she knew the protest action involved some risks, but said that the reaction of Russia and particularly her two-month pre-trial detention came as a surprise.
Related Link:
Greenpeace: Pirates, Hooligans – what next?, Ice-Blog
Russian probe: Greenpeace activists posed ‘real threat’ to Arctic oil platform, The Associated Press
