Rome, 19 Nov. (AKI) - Italian Cristian D'Alessandro is among ten jailed foreign activists from environmental group Greenpeace to be released on bail, pending trial for a protest against Arctic offshore oil drilling.
"I don't know if we have to pay money in advance but in any event the release is now only hours away," D'Alessandro's father Aristide D'Alessandro told Ankronos news agency.
He learned of his son's imminent release from Italy's prime minister Enrico Letta who told him by phone that Italy's authorities were closely following the case.
"This is a first step forward," Letta wrote in message on Twitter.
New Zealander David Haussmann and Brazilian Ana Paula Maciel were granted release from pre-trial detention on payment of a 2 million rouble (61,000 dollar) bail surety on Tuesday morning, and as the day progressed activists from Finland, France, Italy, Argentina, Poland and Canada had bail requests approved on the same conditions.
The decisions are Russia's first concessions in the tough stance it has taken against Greenpeace since 28 activists and two freelance journalists were seized in September on board the Arctic Sunrise during a protest against Arctic drilling.
The group were first charged with piracy, which was later downgraded to "hooliganism as part of an organised group". This carries a maximum jail term of seven years although Greenpeace say the piracy charges have not formally been dropped.
The 30 detainees were moved from the Arctic port of Murmansk to Saint Petersburg by train this month. Three Russians among them were the first to have their hearings this week, and were all released on bail on Monday.