Ben Stewart - Don't Trust, Don't Fear, Don't Beg

Mads Christensen unmutes the video link from Copenhagen. ‘Did you guys just see that?

Ben Ayliffe looks up. ‘Jan’s Skype message?’

‘He says Katya’s lawyer’s been told she’ll get bail.’ Christensen leans back in his chair and runs his hands through his hair. ‘Holy shit, if that’s true…’

There’s no livestream to Katya’s hearing so the campaigners stare at their screens, dozens of them across the globe, waiting for an update on the Skype group. A minute passes, then another. Then…

Jan Beránek: CONFIRMED: Katya’s bail accepted! Now official.

The bunker erupts. In Copenhagen Mads Christensen throws his head back and thrusts his arms into the air in triumph.

Jan Beránek: As far as I understand from the lawyers, we now have 48 hours to deposit the 2 million rubles. After that, she can go free.

Jan Beránek: IMP UPDATE from Ana Paula’s hearing: The prosecutor supports the bail! Decision will only be made at 11am tomorrow.

Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Denis’ hearing: Denis says that if the injustice will be extended, he will respond by a hunger strike.

Jan Beránek: Denis gets a bail as well!

By early evening, Russian TV news is running images of Denis smiling, being led out of the courtroom to cheers. It’s hard to make out what’s happened, but most of the activists understand that Katya and Denis got bail and the prosecutor isn’t opposing release for the Brazilian activist Ana Paula Maciel, but her case resumes tomorrow. At SIZO-5 Faiza is told by her lawyer that the Russians will be freed as soon as the bail money is paid. ‘But if we’re getting out then why did they keep Colin?’ she asks. ‘Are they going to make a distinction? Because it doesn’t make sense that they picked out Colin.’

‘Look,’ her lawyer replies, ‘the phone call didn’t come through in time. Colin’s judge didn’t get the call. In Russia we call it telefonnoye pravo. Telephone justice. And the phone call came late. Soon enough we’ll know either way. It all depends on Ana Paula tomorrow morning.’

19th November

Two months gone since FSB Alpha Team landed on Arctic Sunrise and had us imprisoned. Just saw the morning news and Anton translated that Denis + Katya have been given LIBERTY!! Great news. Saw pix of Colin and Kieron too but no info on them. It’s now Arctic 28!

19th November

Just saw the news. Katya, Colin and Denis, in prisoner cells in court. They all looked upset. Obviously we are all being detained again… I got some veggie food this morning. Smells like shit on a shingle. Have not heard from Dima yet. Don’t trust, don’t fear, don’t beg.

Ana Paula Maciel, a 31-year-old biologist from Brazil, is brought to court with Sini and Camila and taken immediately to the courtroom for her hearing. Sini and Camila shuffle up next to each other in the holding cell and squeeze each other’s hands.

Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Ana Paula’s hearing: Ana is in cage, but shows several slogans on paper sheets. It says ‘Save the Arctic’, another one ‘I love Russia but I want go home’.

Jan Beránek: VERDICT on Ana Paula: YESSSSSSS! We are getting a bail!

Mads Christensen punches the air. The Room of Doom is a riot of cheering and whooping. Then suddenly Ben Ayliffe cries, ‘Whoa, wait! Look.’ He’s pointing at his laptop screen.

Jan Beránek: STOP STOP

Jan Beránek: HANG ON

Mads: Roger, standby on Ana Paula

Jan Beránek: MAY BE OPPOSITE

Jan Beránek: CHECKING WITH LAWYERS

The room is silent except for the ticking hands of those three clocks above the hand-drawn flags. A minute passes. And another. Nervous glances are shared. Then a new message drops onto their screens.

Jan Beránek: Yes, bail confirmed for third time.

Jan Beránek: It IS bail.

And now the room erupts with applause. The video screen is filled with boxes showing arms aloft in campaign hubs around the world.

Outside the holding cell in St Petersburg a guard appears. Sini and Camila look up. The man stands back and Ana Paula walks in, head bowed. She’s stood in the middle of the cell, her face a painting of grief. ‘You were right,’ she says, looking up. ‘You were right, Sini, it didn’t happen. Three more months.’

Sini and Camila reach out to touch her, but Ana Paula can’t hold it in any longer, she jumps up on her toes, her face breaks into a huge grin and she screams, ‘We’re outta here, girls! We’re gonna be free !’

‘What?’

‘It was a joke! I got bail.’

The corridors of St Petersburg’s Primorskiy courthouse echo to the distant sound of elated screaming.

Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Sini’s hearing: She was just brought into the courtroom.

Jan Beránek: UPDATE from Camila’s hearing: Her quote ‘ ya tuvieron suficiente tiempo para darse cuenta que soy inocente nada mas ’ / they had enough time to understand I am not guilty.

Jan Beránek: VERDICT on Camila: Bail granted!!!

Jan Beránek: UPDATE on Sini’s hearing: Judge went away to prepare verdict.

Jan Beránek: Sini’s final statement: ‘There are no reasons to keep me in detention. There were no reasons in the past two months either. And I will never stop believing in the right things.’

Sini still doesn’t think they’ll give her bail. She thinks they’re going to single her out because she climbed the oil platform, so she uses the hearing to unload on the prosecutor and the investigator. She comes to the front of the cage and jabs her finger at the investigator, saying, ‘You’re a liar. You tell lies.’ Then she points at the prosecutor and says, ‘And you. Yeah you. You’re hiding evidence.’ She wants to show them she’s not scared, but her lawyer looks back at her and hisses, ‘Sini, maybe you should say a bit less.’

The judge retires. Half an hour later he returns with his verdict. Sini braces herself. The judge is speaking now, the translator is whispering the words to Sini.

‘…and therefore the detainee is released while the investigation continues.’

Jan Beránek: VERDICT ON SINI – bail granted.

Sini looks up. She’s staggered. Bail? She got bail? It’s hard to believe. She’s actually going to be freed? Her lawyer looks back and sticks her thumb up. A smile breaks on Sini’s lips, she wants to leap and jump and hold somebody.

Maybe, finally, it’s over.

By the end of the day, twelve of the thirty have been granted bail. They just need the two-million-rouble bonds to be paid, then they’ll be free. At Kresty, Dima is watching Vasily make an extraordinary tomato relish and caviar sandwich when he hears the word ‘Greenpeace’ on the television. He looks up and sees Camila’s face. And he knows.

That night across the SIZOs most of the activists watch the TV news in their cells. They can see the smiling faces of their friends. They know they’re getting bail. They punch the air or scream out through the window or hug their cellmates, or they simply lie on their bunks and close their eyes and bathe in relief.

Dima runs his thumb under the seal of an envelope and pulls out the letter to Lev. He reads it through, then thinks momentarily of ripping it up and throwing the pieces out of the window. But then he stops himself. No, he’s not yet free. They might still single him out. Him and Pete and Frank. He remembers the faces of the competent authorities – Gerbil and Helmet-hair. They were FSB goons, up from St Petersburg. He’s sure of it. He’s in their home town now. His bail hearing is on Friday. This is only Tuesday evening. Anything can happen in the next three days. He slides the letter back into the envelope and puts it under his pillow.