Lucy said earlier . . . "I am a mother and soon to be a grandmother . . . what else can a mother do?"
Lawless, Greenpeace activists arrested
Published: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 7:14a.m.
By Dan Satherley / NZN
Actress-turned-Greenpeace activist Lucy Lawless has been arrested, along with five other Greenpeace activists.
The arrests end the group's 77-hour protest at the top of a 53m drilling tower on Shell oil exploration ship the Noble Discoverer.
“This chapter has ended, but the story of the battle to save the Arctic has just begun,” said Lucy Lawless, before being arrested.
“Seven of us climbed up that drillship to stop Arctic drilling, but 133,000 of us came down.”
One protester had already quit the protest for 'personal reasons'. Greenpeace says 133,000 people sent emails to Shell, telling them to abandon plans to drill for oil in the Arctic.
“I can’t wait to get home to my kids to tell them all about this amazing journey, but I’m so glad I took part in this peaceful action,” says Lawless.
“We did what we came to do. Together we sent a clear message that has been heard and echoed across the globe: there’s no place in this world for your reckless Arctic oil.”
Police confirmed all the remaining protesters were under arrest.
"I can now confirm that all of the protesters are under arrest and are starting to make their own way down the tower," said communications manager Kim Perks.
"It is likely to take some time for them to make their way down. Once down they will be taken to the police station and decisions will be made with regard to any charges."
Over the weekend, the protesters say they were subjected to "Guantanamo-style tactics" of loudspeakers and bright lights.
They boarded the Arctic-bound ship and scaled the drilling tower on Friday morning, locking the access ladder to barricade themselves on the derrick.
Lawless, speaking from the ship late on Sunday night, told Fairfax they were being bombarded with persistent booming sounds from loud speakers, including screams and feedback sounds.
She said Shell was "going Guantanamo on us".
Shell denied the claims, saying the noise was just a horn.
"Routine work standard procedure requires the crane's horn to be sounded when the crane moves over the vessel," says Shona Geary, Shell corporate communications manager.
"It appears that on Saturday night the protesters disabled the light at the top of the drill tower. These lights are there for safety reasons.
"A spotlight had to be used instead to light up the area to help ensure the group were safe during crane and other night time operations."
On Saturday night the group endured loud music blasting at 3am and spotlights shining on them all night, Greenpeace New Zealand said.
The group has supplies to last several days and plan to stay as long as they can.
One member of the group, Ilai Amir, left voluntarily on Saturday and was arrested and charged with unlawfully boarding a ship.
The Noble Discoverer was scheduled to leave the port on Sunday to drill three exploratory oil wells in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska.
Greenpeace is calling on Shell to cancel its plans to open up the Arctic to oil drilling.
Shell says it is disappointed by the protest and its planned drilling exploration is environmentally responsible.
NZN / 3 News