A Russian court Thursday began remanding 30 Greenpeace activists who protested against plans for oil production in the Arctic.

 

 "In my hands, I have the documents that confirm that 10 have already been remanded in custody for two months. They're citizens of Russia, France, Turkey, Poland,  Sweden, Canada and New Zealand," said Greenpeace Russia's Anton Beneslavski. 

 

 The US citizen who skippered the Arctic Sunrise icebreaker was among those remanded, other sources said.

 

 The court must still decide whether the remaining activists will be released or  held pending a piracy investigation.

 

 All 30 could face formal charges of piracy for their Sep 18 protest in the  Pechora Sea, in the southeastern portion of the Barents Sea, although Russian  President Vladimir Putin said this week that the activists are not pirates.

 

 After several of the Greenpeace members tried to board a drilling platform operated  by Russian state energy titan Gazprom, the Arctic Sunrise was seized last Thursday  by the Russian coast guard and its crew members were detained.

 

 "We have sufficient legal basis for appealing all the actions taken by the Russian  authorities in this process," Beneslavski said.

 

 "Violence was not employed during the protest. There was no assault nor illegal  seizure of another's property, and also no attempt to take control of the  (platform)," Greenpeace Russia said.

 

 Meanwhile, Russia is facing international calls to release the activists, with the  Netherlands, where the environmental watchdog is based, saying it was not ruling  out resorting to other legal avenues if Moscow does not respond promptly to its  request.

 

 Gazprom claims the Greenpeace action endangered the health and lives of workers on  the Prirazlomnaya oil platform.

 

 Greenpeace says Gazprom's plans to begin oil production with that platform in the  first quarter of 2014 increase the risk of an oil spill in an area that contains  three natural reserves protected by Russian law.

 

 –IANS