The 30 crew members of a Greenpeace icebreaker that were arrested during a protest in the Arctic were sent to St. Petersburg for pre-trial detention on Monday, after it was ruled that the Murmansk region's courts don't have jurisdiction over the case.
The 28 activists and two journalists were transferred from the northern city of Murmansk, where they had previously been held, aboard a prison train at 5 a.m., Greenpeace International said in a .
Greenpeace campaigner Ben Ayliffe said his organization had received information that the train was unheated, even though the temperatures in Murmansk were below freezing on Monday and were only slightly warmer in St. Petersburg.
"We have advised the 30 to dress in warm clothes and shoes," Ayliffe said in the statement. "We have also organized prompt deliveries of additional supplies of warm outfits, in addition to the garments that we have been able to get to them in the last couple of weeks."
"We are doing everything in our power to ensure that the Arctic 30 are transported in a humane way," he added.
An Investigative Committee spokesman said that the transfer was ordered because Murmansk courts can't preside over the case, and because the case investigators are based in St. Petersburg, Interfax reported.
Unlike Murmansk, which remains shrouded in darkness during the winter months, St. Petersburg at least sees some sunlight. It is also easier for the detainees' friends and families to visit them in prison in St. Petersburg, Greenpeace said.
Greenpeace said there was no guarantee that the detention center in St. Peterburg would be any better, however.
The crew are charged with hooliganism and face up to seven years in prison over the protest they staged against offshore drilling at a Gazprom oil platform in September. Last week, prosecutors brought an additional charge of resisting arrest against some of the suspects.
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