Brazilian Greenpeace activist Ana Paula Maciel has become the first of the so-called ‘Arctic 30’ to be released from pre-trial detention in Russia.<br /><br />Maciel walked out of prison in Saint Petersburg smiling, carrying a placard that read “Save the Arctic”.<br /><br />Greenpeace said that it did not yet now the full conditions of her release on bail. <br /><br />Maciel and 19 of her fellow protesters have so far been granted bail in hearings being held this week at Russian courts. <br /><br />The thirty were arrested for attempting to scale a Russian state-owned oil rig in the Barents Sea in September.<br /><br />They have been kept behind bars since then – prompting international criticism of Moscow’s handling of the incident. <br /><br />The activists are charged with hooliganism and face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
