Greenpeace International activist Alexandra Harris of the United Kingdom is greeted as she leaves a jail after being freed on bail in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Nov. 22, 2013 (Photo: AP)
Russia on Friday released on bail 13 more Greenpeace crewmembers detained for more than two months over a protest against Arctic oil drilling.
The veteran US captain of the Greenpeace ship, Peter Willcox, was among those freed from a Saint Petersburg prison.
Also released were five British crewmembers: video journalist Kieron Bryan, communications officer Alexandra Harris, activist Anthony Perrett, second engineer Iain Rogers and logistics coordinator Frank Hewetson.
Activist Marco Weber from Switzerland, who was one of those to scale a Russian oil platform in the protest, was freed as well. The other activist who climbed the platform, Sini Saarela of Finland, was released Thursday.
Russia's decision to jail 30 crewmembers of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship and charge them with hooliganism prompted calls for their release from leaders including British Prime Minister and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Russian authorities agreed to free the activists after Greenpeace paid bail of two million rubles ($60,750) for each.
They still face jail terms of up to seven years if found guilty of hooliganism. It is unclear when they will be allowed to leave Russia.
A spokesman for the Federal Migration Service in Saint Petersburg told the RIA Novosti news agency on Thursday that "until the question of the criminal case against them is finally resolved, they cannot leave Russian territory."
The court in Saint Petersburg on Friday also granted bail to Greenpeace spokesmen Roman Dolgov, of Russia, and Dmitri Litvinov, a Swedish-American, as well as British activist Phil Ball. They have not yet been released.
Litvinov held up a banner in court reading "Save the Arctic" while Ball had "Save the Arctic. Now and forever" written on his palms.
Twenty nine of the 30 activists originally detained have been freed or are awaiting release on bail, with one activist kept in pre-trial detention.
A Russian court on Monday refused bail to Australian radio operator Colin Russell, extending his pre-trial detention until February 24, a day after the end of the Sochi Winter Games hosted by Russia. Russell is appealing the decision.
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