Russian judge grants bail to 3 more Greenpeace protesters

A judge in St. Petersburg, Russia, granted bail Tuesday to three more Greenpeace activists awaiting trial for protesting at an oil rig in the Arctic Ocean. The judge set bail at $16,500 each for a Brazilian citizen, a New Zealander and an Argentinean one day after bail was granted to two Greenpeace crew members and a freelance photographer, RIA Novosti reported. The three defendants granted bail Monday were all Russian. Twenty-eight Greenpeace activists and two reporters initially were charged with piracy for attempting in September to climb an oil platform owned by an affiliate of Gazprom in September to protest offshore drilling in the environmentally sensitive area. The piracy charge was downgraded to hooliganism. In a statement, Greenpeace officials said they were waiting for Russia's Investigative Committee, which is handling the case, to provide details for a bank account into which the bail could be deposited.