The demonstrators face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.
Handout / Reuters
On Wednesday Russian authorities charged five Greenpeace activists with piracy, after they seized the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace ship in north-west Russia, and detained all on board. 25 others face similar charges.
The activists were protesting against Russian oil giant Gazprom's plans for energy expansion, and specifically against drilling in the Arctic. If found guilty in Russian courts, the activists face up to 15 years in prison.
The executive director of Greenpeace International, Kumi Naidoo, tweeted that the decision by Russian authorities to charge the activists was "the most serious threat to Greenpeace's peaceful environmental activism" since the sinking of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior ship in 1985.
