A fifty year old British doctor has been imprisoned indefinitely in Sweden after she took part in a peaceful protest against an oil dumping vessel in the Baltic Sea. Her plight has outraged British environmentalists, who will hold a demonstration outside the Swedish embassy in London later this afternoon (Thursday).
Liz Rickman has been told she will be kept in jail until trial, a date for which has not been set. She is being held with Kristina Petersen, a 27 year old student from Germany. Neither has been charged with a crime, but they are being detained on suspicion of aggravated trespass (1). Both women took part in a peaceful protest against a vessel which had previously been caught dumping oil into the Baltic Sea, which is illegal under Swedish law (2). Yet while the owners and operators of the vessel walked free from court, both Liz and Kristina have spent the last week in police cells and have been told they would remain there until a trial, though no date would be given for the court case.
"This is a violation not just of their civil rights, but also their human rights," said Greenpeace UK's Executive Director Stephan Tindale. "I find it shocking that such a normally liberal country as Sweden, with a good track record on environmental issues should adopt such a brutal approach to peaceful protestors who were highlighting environmental crimes."
The women are being held in wholly inadequate conditions in police holding cells that are designed for short term or overnight detention, not longer periods. They have been refused access to legal representation of their choosing or Greenpeace representatives. During initial proceedings the women were brought before the magistrate separately behind closed doors. Greenpeace believes there have been a number of breaches of the European Convention of Human Rights through the treatment of these two women, including degrading treatment, the denial of their right to legal counsel of their choosing, and the possibility of being prosecuted because of their beliefs.
Previous court cases involving other Greenpeace activists in Sweden facing aggravated trespass charges have resulted in no more than a fine being imposed. None has ever been imprisoned. The prosecutor claims both women are a flight risk, though no Greenpeace activist world-wide has ever failed to appear in court to face charges. An appeal against the ruling will be lodged with the Supreme court in the morning.
Notes for editors:
- Both activists are being detained in Norrkping, Sweden. They were arrested on Tuesday, June 4 and charges were brought against them by the public prosecutor for "aggravated trespass." This can carry up to 2 years prison sentence. Under Swedish law, detention is permissible for this charge if the suspects pose a risk of flight.
- The protest was against the M/S Fagervik, a ship flagged in the Isle of Man and owned by a German company, which was caught in February 2001, releasing a large amount of oil into the Baltic Sea east of the Swedish coastal town of V£tervik. All releases of oil into the Baltic Sea are forbidden according to Swedish law since the Baltic is particularly sensitive to oil releases and is also one of the most polluted sea areas in the world. At the trial in the Norrkping municipal court in December 2001 the owner of the ship, the captain and the chief engineer were acquitted since the prosecutor had not been able to show that the release was deliberate or due to negligence.
