Don't Trust, Don't Fear, Don't Beg: The Extraordinary Story of the Arctic 30

by Ben Stewart

  Dima smiles at the memory. He bends over the paper and starts to write.

  As you will have heard, I ran into a bit of trouble in the motherland. Been here a couple of months, and it looks like I’ll be staying a bit longer. Question is how much longer. There is a risk that it will take quite a few months. And if things don’t improve, years. Now, I personally am fine. It’s no Club Med, but it’s no Auschwitz either. My biggest concern is Mom and Luke. I’m really worried that if things extend on she’ll REALLY get fucked up. Already she looks (on a newspaper foto) very skinny and depressed. Her messages to me are sounding desperate. SO, I know you got a travel plan but I wonder if I can ask you to change it? I am going to a hearing this week that should extend my imprisonment to February 24th. Who knows what happens after. It would be very good if you would consider coming home for a few months to be with your mom. Of course we can help to pay for your ticket. Sorry to dump this on you, but as you understand it’s a bit of an extraordinary situation. Please don’t tell mom I’ve asked you to do this. Anyway I hope you’re having an EXCELLENT adventure so far. Hugs hugs and love to Nigh-Nush. Love you tons. Hugs and kisses from the Gulags.

  Your pirate Dad

  In the cell next door, Pete Willcox opens his diary and pulls the lid off his pen.

  Three month extensions for detention. My heart did a nosedive, and I crawled up on my bunk and stared at the ceiling, which is only three inches away. Totally bummed.

  In the Room of Doom the campaigners are chewing their lips and staring into the middle distance, their eyes are red and wet. When they try to smile their lips quiver and they fight back tears. Nobody is saying much. Then a Skype message lands from St Petersburg.

  Jan Beránek: IMP UPDATE from Katya’s hearing: Prosecutor said he is NOT against a bail in case of Ekaterina. The judge interrupted the hearing so that she can prepare the decision.

  Katya Zaspa is the ship’s 37-year-old doctor from Moscow.

  Jan Beránek: UNCONFIRMED: Katya’s lawyer got information that her bail will be accepted. But we still need to wait for judge to pronounce her decision.

  Mads Christensen unmutes the video link from Copenhagen. ‘Did you guys just see that?

  Ben Ayliffe looks up. ‘Jan’s Skype message?’

  ‘He says Katya’s lawyer’s been told she’ll get bail.’ Christensen leans back in his chair and runs his hands through his hair. ‘Holy shit, if that’s true …’

  There’s no livestream to Katya’s hearing so the campaigners stare at their screens, dozens of them across the globe, waiting for an update on the Skype group. A minute passes, then another. Then …

  Jan Beránek: CONFIRMED: Katya’s bail accepted! Now official.

  The bunker erupts. In Copenhagen Mads Christensen throws his head back and thrusts his arms into the air in triumph.

  Jan Beránek: As far as I understand from the lawyers, we now have 48 hours to deposit the 2 million rubles. After that, she can go free.

  Jan Beránek: IMP UPDATE from Ana Paula’s hearing: The prosecutor supports the bail! Decision will only be made at 11am tomorrow.

  Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Denis’ hearing: Denis says that if the injustice will be extended, he will respond by a hunger strike.

  Jan Beránek: Denis gets a bail as well!

  By early evening, Russian TV news is running images of Denis smiling, being led out of the courtroom to cheers. It’s hard to make out what’s happened, but most of the activists understand that Katya and Denis got bail and the prosecutor isn’t opposing release for the Brazilian activist Ana Paula Maciel, but her case resumes tomorrow. At SIZO-5 Faiza is told by her lawyer that the Russians will be freed as soon as the bail money is paid. ‘But if we’re getting out then why did they keep Colin?’ she asks. ‘Are they going to make a distinction? Because it doesn’t make sense that they picked out Colin.’

  ‘Look,’ her lawyer replies, ‘the phone call didn’t come through in time. Colin’s judge didn’t get the call. In Russia we call it telefonnoye pravo. Telephone justice. And the phone call came late. Soon enough we’ll know either way. It all depends on Ana Paula tomorrow morning.’

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Frank Hewetson’s diary

  19th November

  Two months gone since FSB Alpha Team landed on Arctic Sunrise and had us imprisoned. Just saw the morning news and Anton translated that Denis + Katya have been given LIBERTY!! Great news. Saw pix of Colin and Kieron too but no info on them. It’s now Arctic 28!

  Pete Willcox’s diary

  19th November

  Just saw the news. Katya, Colin and Denis, in prisoner cells in court. They all looked upset. Obviously we are all being detained again … I got some veggie food this morning. Smells like shit on a shingle. Have not heard from Dima yet. Don’t trust, don’t fear, don’t beg.

  Ana Paula Maciel, a 31-year-old biologist from Brazil, is brought to court with Sini and Camila and taken immediately to the courtroom for her hearing. Sini and Camila shuffle up next to each other in the holding cell and squeeze each other’s hands.

  Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Ana Paula’s hearing: Ana is in cage, but shows several slogans on paper sheets. It says ‘Save the Arctic’, another one ‘I love Russia but I want go home’.

  Jan Beránek: VERDICT on Ana Paula: YESSSSSSS! We are getting a bail!

  Mads Christensen punches the air. The Room of Doom is a riot of cheering and whooping. Then suddenly Ben Ayliffe cries, ‘Whoa, wait! Look.’ He’s pointing at his laptop screen.

  Jan Beránek: STOP STOP

  Jan Beránek: HANG ON

  Mads: Roger, standby on Ana Paula

  Jan Beránek: MAY BE OPPOSITE

  Jan Beránek: CHECKING WITH LAWYERS

  The room is silent except for the ticking hands of those three clocks above the hand-drawn flags. A minute passes. And another. Nervous glances are shared. Then a new message drops onto their screens.

  Jan Beránek: Yes, bail confirmed for third time.

  Jan Beránek: It IS bail.

  And now the room erupts with applause. The video screen is filled with boxes showing arms aloft in campaign hubs around the world.

  Outside the holding cell in St Petersburg a guard appears. Sini and Camila look up. The man stands back and Ana Paula walks in, head bowed. She’s stood in the middle of the cell, her face a painting of grief. ‘You were right,’ she says, looking up. ‘You were right, Sini, it didn’t happen. Three more months.’

  Sini and Camila reach out to touch her, but Ana Paula can’t hold it in any longer, she jumps up on her toes, her face breaks into a huge grin and she screams, ‘We’re outta here, girls! We’re gonna be free!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It was a joke! I got bail.’

  The corridors of St Petersburg’s Primorskiy courthouse echo to the distant sound of elated screaming.

  Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Sini’s hearing: She was just brought into the courtroom.

  Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Camila’s hearing: Her quote ‘ya tuvieron suficiente tiempo para darse cuenta que soy inocente nada mas’ / they had enough time to understand I am not guilty.

  Jan Beránek: VERDICT on Camila: Bail granted!!!

  Jan Beránek: UPDATE on Sini’s hearing: Judge went away to prepare verdict.

  Jan Beránek: Sini’s final statement: ‘There are no reasons to keep me in detention. There were no reasons in the past two months either. And I will never stop believing in the right things.’

  Sini still doesn’t think they’ll give her bail. She thinks they’re going to single her out because she climbed the oil platform, so she uses the hearing to unload on the prosecutor and the investigator. She comes to the front of the cage and jabs her finger at the investigator, saying, ‘You’re a liar. You tell lies.’ Then she points at the prosecutor and says, ‘And you. Yeah you. You’re hiding evidence.’ She wants to show them she’s not scared, but her lawyer looks back at her and hisses, ‘Sini, maybe you should say a bit less.’

  The judg
e retires. Half an hour later he returns with his verdict. Sini braces herself. The judge is speaking now, the translator is whispering the words to Sini.

  ‘… and therefore the detainee is released while the investigation continues.’

  Jan Beránek: VERDICT ON SINI – bail granted.

  Sini looks up. She’s staggered. Bail? She got bail? It’s hard to believe. She’s actually going to be freed? Her lawyer looks back and sticks her thumb up. A smile breaks on Sini’s lips, she wants to leap and jump and hold somebody.

  Maybe, finally, it’s over.

  By the end of the day, twelve of the thirty have been granted bail. They just need the two-million-rouble bonds to be paid, then they’ll be free. At Kresty, Dima is watching Vasily make an extraordinary tomato relish and caviar sandwich when he hears the word ‘Greenpeace’ on the television. He looks up and sees Camila’s face. And he knows.

  That night across the SIZOs most of the activists watch the TV news in their cells. They can see the smiling faces of their friends. They know they’re getting bail. They punch the air or scream out through the window or hug their cellmates, or they simply lie on their bunks and close their eyes and bathe in relief.

  Dima runs his thumb under the seal of an envelope and pulls out the letter to Lev. He reads it through, then thinks momentarily of ripping it up and throwing the pieces out of the window. But then he stops himself. No, he’s not yet free. They might still single him out. Him and Pete and Frank. He remembers the faces of the competent authorities – Gerbil and Helmet-hair. They were FSB goons, up from St Petersburg. He’s sure of it. He’s in their home town now. His bail hearing is on Friday. This is only Tuesday evening. Anything can happen in the next three days. He slides the letter back into the envelope and puts it under his pillow.

  Frank Hewetson’s diary

  20th November

  Well. Fairly major surprise meeting with Pavel [his lawyer]. Guard came and got me and took me to the meeting room where they were waiting with big smiles. 12 non-Russians have effectively been given bail, including SINI which has major implications for those of us in the rhibs.

  [later …] 6pm news showed Anne, 3rd mate, getting bail. Really encouraging news. My questioning of Anton about the news report was a bit enthusiastic I think. He finds it hard not to show his own feelings of jealousy. Somehow I must show restraint on each release of an Arctic 30.

  The next day nine more are brought to court, including Alex. There are so many photographers that it feels like walking on the red carpet, except she doesn’t feel glamorous because she’s just stepped out of prison. There are flashes going off, people barking questions. ‘Do you have a few words to say? Alex, how do you feel? Do you think you’ll get bail? Alex? Alex?’ Then she’s pushed into the cage. The judge asks her if she has anything to say. Alex tells the court: ‘Every day in prison for me is connected with the struggle. I joined Greenpeace because I care about the environment and think the Earth should be saved for future generations.’

  The judge retires then returns with the verdict. The translator is whispering the words in Alex’s ear and she’s thinking, hurry up and just spit it out, please. And then the judge gets there. She says Alex has got bail.

  She feels light-headed. Delirious. It’s like she’s become detached from her body and is watching herself in the cage, getting to her feet and smiling for the cameras. The whole courtroom is filled with reporters. ‘Alex, Alex. What’s your reaction? How do you feel? Have you got a message for your parents? Alex?’

  Frank Hewetson’s diary

  21st November

  The steel section masquerading as a bed base is starting to hurt my hips. And ribs. The mattress has inexorably sunk to the profile of the steel plate and is ridged. I think I also pulled a muscle in my back at gulyat playing hacky-sack with Anton.

  [later …] Back from the court with bail conditions granted! Pavel told me I won’t get out of Kresty till Monday as payments are taking time to process. I’d love to be out by Friday but no go. Media presence was huge for such a small room. A mad scramble with police getting very angry with SKY NEWS team. They fully got into a scrum. Told me I was live and I did a piece. I also gave my speech about the FSB being the armed hooligans that morning, not Greenpeace. Stewey [head of the media team] was in the media pack! Great to have seen him. Really feels like a major step on the road to freedom. In the holding cell at court I saw a Column 88 stamp with swastikas each side + Russian lettering underneath. Lots of right wing thugs here I guess. I wrote ‘Nazi Scum’ above with an arrow pointing down.

  [later …] Just got taken to the phone room and allowed to call home. Feckin cards only last 3 minutes and the system failed 80% of times but I got to talk to Nina and then Nell. Everybody cried a bit. She’s really really missed me and must have been hit quite hard by the whole thing. So so good to have got just those few brilliant moments though. My darling daughter. Nina was so lovely to talk to. She has been the best wife possible during these 2 months.

  The campaigners are hoping the first of the activists will be freed soon. They expect it to be one of the Russians – Denis or Andrey. But at SIZO-5 a lawyer is clutching a receipt slip for the payment of a two-million-rouble bond, and she’s refusing to leave without her client. ‘This is nonsense,’ Ana Paula’s lawyer tells the governor. ‘Just release her. This procedure is crap. The judge gave her bail, we’ve paid the money. I won’t leave without her.’

  And suddenly, unexpectedly, Ana Paula Maciel from Porto Alegre in Brazil is told by a guard that she’s being freed. Half an hour later, from a grey door down the side of SIZO-5, she emerges into a Russian winter’s evening, surrounded by journalists, blinking into flashbulbs, grinning with a combination of delight and shock, holding in her hands a sheet of paper on which she’s written the words ‘SAVE THE ARCTIC’.

  Pete Willcox’s diary

  21st November

  I got bail. I am still in prison but expect to be out tomorrow or Saturday or Monday at the latest. Ana Paula’s hearing was Monday and she was out yesterday afternoon.

  I was up and down all day. Finally about 3.30 (?) I came back to hear the judge (young blonde woman – mid 30s?). The judge started talking and after a bit the translator tries to keep up. Well the judge lists all the reasons why I should not get bail. It goes on for 5 minutes, but by the middle I am completely trashed. I tried to figure out why I am not being bailed, and the only reason I can think of is that as captain, they want to make an example out of me … I start to get myself mentally prepared for more prison. Then the judge starts saying all the reasons why I should be bailed. And it finally dawned on me that she had just outlined the prosecutor’s case. So my hope sprang up again. After a few minutes, my lawyers both started giving thumbs up. And then the judge says it real plain … bail is granted. I sighed, closed my eyes and looked down to the right, and an absolute blast of motor-drives went off. I was too drained for even a smile.

  But now Pete is worried. He’s back in the cell and his mind is racing. He’s convinced that the others are blaming him for all this. He’s been questioning his judgement as a captain since commandos seized his ship. Shouldn’t he have got out of there as soon as the coastguard started firing warning shots? Some of the crew were kids, they never signed up to years in jail. Pete imagines them lying in their cells, waiting for release and working out how they ended up in this mess in the first place, and deciding it was his fault. They’ll be out soon and they’re going to have their say. They’re going to want to unload, and it’s all coming his way. And maybe they’re right, he thinks. Maybe they’re right.

  At 2 p.m. Camila is told her time has come. She’s taken to the meeting room. She waits alone for five minutes, then the door opens and Sini appears with 26-year-old Danish sailor Anne Mie Jensen. They’re taken to the main door of the prison. They’re standing before it now. Then it swings open, and another door opens in front of it, and beyond that is a bank of cameras below a broad sky. Camila walks out. Then Anne Mie. Sini t
akes a step forward but she doesn’t realise the last door is so heavy. It swings back, Sini leans into it but she can’t hold it back and she’s momentarily squeezed between the prison doors in front of the cameras. She pushes again, steps into the open air, holds her arms aloft and shouts, ‘I’m free!’

  It feels like being born again. She wants to run somewhere, anywhere. And she wants to hug anything with a heartbeat. A minute later they’re in the lawyer’s car, speeding down a St Petersburg street.

  ‘Is it okay if I open the window?’ asks Sini.

  ‘Yes, sure. Open it.’

  So she opens the window and sticks her head through it and shouts, ‘I’m free! I’m free!’ Drivers in passing cars turn their heads, people walking on the pavement look up, they see blonde hair flapping and a woman screaming into the wind.

  ‘I’m free!’

  The women are taken to the Peterville hotel in central St Petersburg and given keys to their rooms. In a third floor corridor Camila is fiddling with a key in the lock while Sini is next to her, jumping up and down on her heels. Behind them Anne Mie is hugging Ana Paula.

  Camila turns the key in the hotel door and cries, ‘I can open the door! I can open the door! And I can sleep with the door unlocked!’ She pushes through the door into the hotel room, Sini bounces after her and the two of them punch the air and whoop. They run to the window and disappear behind the curtains. The fabric jerks and bulges as they wrestle with the window fixture, then the window opens and Sini shouts out into the street.