Actor Lawless among green activists arrested in New Zealand
Monday 27 February 2012
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EmailPolice arrested actor Lucy Lawless and five Greenpeace activists today, four days after they climbed onto an oil-drilling ship to prevent it from leaving a New Zealand dock for the Arctic.
Officers removed the protesters from their perch atop a 53-metre drilling tower on the Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki.
The ship, chartered by Anglo-Dutch transnational Shell, had been due to leave over the weekend to drill five exploratory wells in the Arctic.
Ms Lawless and six activists climbed the tower early on Friday to stop its departure and raise awareness about Arctic oil drilling.
One of the campaigners left the tower on Saturday and was initially charged with unlawfully boarding a ship.
All seven have now been charged with burglary, a more serious crime.
All have been released and are due to appear in a New Zealand court on Thursday.
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