Paul McCartney urges Putin to release Arctic 30
The former Beatle has published a letter written in October to the Russian president about the Greenpeace protesters. Paul McCartney has posted a letter he has written to Vladimir Putinonline, which urges the Russian president to release the 28 Greenpeaceactivists and journalists who were arrested after a protest at an oil-drilling rig in September.
Posting on his personal blog, the former Beatle expressed his hope to have the "misunderstanding resolved" and requested that the protesters, who face charges of hooliganism, be home in time for Christmas. He assures that Greenpeace are peaceful protesters, stating that "non-violence is an essential part of who they are". Originally sent on 14 October, McCartney, who expresses his concerns in a polite and restrained tone, shares his concerns that the Arctic 30, who were this week moved from Murmansk to pre-trial detention centres in Saint Petersburg, are being "portrayed in some quarters as being anti-Russian, that they were doing the bidding of western governments, and that they threatened the safety of the people working on that Arctic oil platform."
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Source: The Guardian, UK
