A Slovak court ordered 12 Greenpeace activists, who were detained after protesting against a coal mining company, to remain in custody on Sunday until a trial.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, however, said the court’s decision was questionable.
Fifteen activists from the Czech Republic, Belgium and Finland were detained on Wednesday after hanging a banner reading “Stop the age of coal” from a tower at a coal mine that supplies one of Slovakia’s most polluting power plants.
No one was harmed during the protest but the mining company, HBP, said 342 miners underground were put in danger as all operations at the premises were halted for several hours.
Three of the activists were released on Wednesday, while the rest were charged with a criminal offence of endangering a strategic utility.
The regional court in Prievidza, central Slovakia, did not set a date for a trial. Lawyers for the activists filed an appeal against the decision to keep them in custody, Greenpeace told Reuters.
If the decision is upheld, they could stay in the pre-trial custody for up to 12 months.
“The court’s decision is unprecedented. Activists are not criminals, they staged a non-violent protest…
