Kumi Naidoo to be released today

Melanie Gosling

Environment Writer

KUMI Naidoo, the South African who is head of Greenpeace International, has been deported from Greenland, where he was jailed last Friday, and is now in jail in Denmark.

The Durban man, who was arrested after he scaled a British oil rig as part of a Greenpeace protest against drilling for oil in the environmentally sensitive Arctic, is due to be released today.

Naidoo, 45, and fellow Greenpeace campaigner Norwegian Ulvar Arnkvaern, who also scaled the rig, have been fined R26 000 after being charged with trespassing

Naidoo’s daughter, Naomi, wrote to her father in jail on Father’s Day: “As my friends and flatmates go to visit their fathers on Father’s Day, I am both proud and saddened to know that you are being held in custody in Greenland after standing up against the madness of Arctic oil drilling.

“Watching the videos of you braving the freezing water cannon to scale that massive Arctic oil rig, I can truthfully say that I will spend this Father’s Day being proud to be your daughter.”

The two men reached the oil rig in a rubber duck, launched from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, and then climbed a 30m ladder up the rig, carrying a petition with 50 000 signatures against drilling for oil in the Arctic. It called for the company, Cairn Energy, to leave the area, and also to make public their oil spill response plan.

The company has said it has an oil spill plan, drawn up in consultation with the Greenland authorities, but is under no obligation to make it public.

Naidoo and Arnkvaern were arrested on the rig, and then airlifted off by a helicopter launched from a Danish warship and taken to jail in Greenland.

Naidoo, who was a youth leader in the anti-apartheid movement, wrote back to his daughter, in a letter published on the Greenpeace website: “The prison staff here in Greenland are kind and are treating us well. We get three decent meals a day (though I miss spicy food!) and we get two 30-minute walks in the fresh air each day.”

“While this struggle to prevent the destruction of the Arctic might appear remote, it is fundamental for all of humanity. It is global warming that has threatened the livelihoods of millions and the melting of the Arctic ice cap leads to sea level rise around the world.

“Therefore it is important that we get our leaders to stop recklessly chasing the last drops of oil that exist at the expense of pursuing better alternatives. And there is there is the threat of war and conflict as different nations fight over who should control the Arctic resources. So this is also about peace.”

Naidoo was arrested several times for anti-apartheid activities in South Africa before going underground and fleeing the country to live in exile in the UK. He returned after Mandela had been released.

Greenpeace said in a statement that private state documents revealed last month showed that the UK government believed an Arctic oil spill would be “near-impossible” to clean up.

The Liev Eiriksson is one of two rigs drilling off the coast of Greenland. Greenpeace believes the “world’s oil giants are watching Cairns’ rig with great interest. If it strikes oil this summer, Exxon, Chevron and the other big oil companies, which have already bought up Greenland licences, will begin drilling in the area and the Arctic oil rush will be on.”