Family Members Of Greenpeace Activists Imprisoned in Russia Are Worried About Their Fate

Capt. Peter Willcox, 60, is a longtime Greenpeace activist now charged with piracy in Russia. © Peter Willcox/Facebook

US Greenpeace Captain’s Wife ‘Terrified’ by Russian Piracy Charges -- RIA Novosti

WASHINGTON, October 3 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – The wife of a Greenpeace ship captain charged with piracy in Russia on Thursday said she is “terrified” of a possible 15-year prison sentence such a charge could carry.

“That’s incredibly frightening,” said Maggy Willcox, who is married to Peter Willcox, captain of the Arctic Sunrise and a longtime Greenpeace activist.

“It’s a survival thing. I cannot let my mind go there. There are so many things here that I don’t understand,” she told RIA Novosti by telephone Thursday before the charges against her husband were announced.

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My Comment: Her worries are justified. The Russian legal system is very tough .... and the process is very slow .... especially to those who get themselves arrested while trying to make a political statement. Her husband and the others who were arrested with him are going to be in prison for the next few months before their trial starts .... and when they are convicted (and they will be convicted) some of them are going to be given stiff sentences. Their only hope will be a Presidential pardon from Putin .... but that will only happen if they are convicted and sentenced to jail. They are also now being used by Russia as a warning to other activists .... a point that I am sure that international activists are now going to heed.