Russia has reportedly dropped charges against Greenpeace activists who staged a protest at an Arctic oil rig on September 18.
The group, which includes 28 activists, a Russian photographer and a British video journalist, has been held since armed Russian security services boarded their ship during a protest at the Gazprom-owned Prirazlomnaya oil rig.
According to Sky News, the group of Greenpeace activists will still face accusations of hooliganism that carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years, while piracy invites jail term of up to 15 years.
Greenpeace has insisted the protest was peaceful and said that the accusations of hooliganism were 'wildly disproportionate'.
The organisation's executive director Kumi Naidoo described the initial charge of piracy as "extreme".
A spokesman for Greenpeace Russia, Vladimir Chuprov said that they will contest the trumped up charge of hooliganism as strongly as they contested the piracy allegations adding that both fantasy charges bear no relation to reality.
Russell Bryan, brother of detained Kieron Bryan said that Kieron is not a Greenpeace supporter or activist, and he was there only as a videographer adding that the Russians have changed what was a very serious and absurd charge into one that still carries a seven year jail term.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the activists were not pirates but claimed they had violated international law, the report added.
