The Arctic 30 have now spent almost 60 days in detention in icy Russia, for staging a peaceful protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. Our colleagues and friends were arrested under charges of piracy and recently, the Russian courts added a further charge -- hooliganism. The Arctic 30 are neither pirates nor hooligans, they are brave men and women who took a stand against climate destroyers, and are now facing an uncertain future inside a Russian prison.
I cannot even begin to imagine what I would be feeling if I were in their position. I can’t even wait for my toast to pop before I’m tapping my foot and sighing at the amount of time it takes to harden bread. But a few of them have started writing letters from their prisons, and reading them gives me hope for their spirit. You can read them here, my advice: have a tissue ready.
What gets me more is that these trumped up charges are being forced on people because they made a noise about something that mattered to them. They stood up for all of us to highlight an impending danger to our health, the safety and survival of humans and animals, and our environment, and they were silenced.
On Saturday 16th, we are not going to be silenced. We are going to make as much noise as possible for the Arctic 30. We will be their voices. With “Drumming for Justice” we aim to beat our drums, blow our vuvuzelas and let the world know that we can make a noise too, because it matters to us.
Join us at Pieter Roos Park in Parktown this Saturday at 09:00 until 10:00 and then march with us and Earth Life Africa through the streets of Johannesburg demanding action be taken to not only free our activists but rescue our climate.
Event details here.