Russia frees Aussie Greenpeace activist

Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell has walked free from a St Petersburg jail, one day after being granted bail of two million rubles ($A67,600).

Greenpeace International activist Colin Russell

A Russian court has granted bail to Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell. (AAP)

Russia has freed Australian Colin Russell, who is the last of 30 people detained after a Greenpeace protest in Arctic waters.

Russell walked free from a St Petersburg jail on Friday, one day after being granted bail of two million rubles ($A67,600) in an appeal hearing.

The Australian radio operator was the first to be brought to court when bail hearings started last week, and was denied bail. All the others were released.

The 30 still face charges for hooliganism, which carries a sentence of up to seven years.

They were arrested following an attempt by some of the activists to scale an offshore drilling platform belonging to state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom.

It's unclear whether the foreigners in the group will be allowed to leave Russia before the start of the trial.


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Source: AAP



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