Brazilian Greenpeace activist Ana Paula Maciel has become the first of the so-called ‘Arctic 30’ to be released from pre-trial detention in Russia.
Maciel walked out of prison in Saint Petersburg smiling, carrying a placard that read “Save the Arctic”.
Greenpeace said that it did not yet now the full conditions of her release on bail.
Maciel and 19 of her fellow protesters have so far been granted bail in hearings being held this week at Russian courts.
The thirty were arrested for attempting to scale a Russian state-owned oil rig in the Barents Sea in September.
They have been kept behind bars since then – prompting international criticism of Moscow’s handling of the incident.
The activists are charged with hooliganism and face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
