lucyprotestHere's a press release from Greenpeace New Zealand regarding the Save the Arctic protest on board the Noble Discoverer on 24 February 2012

On 22 November, Lucy and her fellow Greenpeace protesters were due to face New Plymouth Court for sentencing on the charges of trespass of the Shell arctic drill ship The Noble Discoverer on 24-27 February 2012 (they pleaded guilty to the charges on 14 June 2012) . They were due to be sentenced on 13 September but the court case was adjourned to 22 November.

In the early hours of 24 February 2012 in Taranaki, New Zealand,  7 fearless Greenpeace activists boarded the Noble Discoverer and scaled the derrick of the drill ship. They stayed up on that derrick for 3.5 days and by staying there they brought attention to the world Shell's plans for drilling in the Arctic. No longer was it a story relegated to the inner pages of the newspaper or deeply buried online. It shone a light on Shell's plans to be the first in a race to use up the Arctic's oil. Lucy Lawless used her name and her celebrity to such devastating effect that the whole world paid attention. That is not to take away from the rest of the Greenpeace protesters but if it wasn't for Lucy being involved, their valiant effort would have been overlooked.

 

Sentencing adjourned for Lucy Lawless and activists

Auckland, 20 November 2012 - Thursday's sentencing of Lucy Lawless and seven other activists, arrested following the occupation of the Shell-chartered drillship the Noble Discoverer in New Plymouth in February, has been adjourned again.

This is the second time the sentencing of the eight activists has been postponed due to Shell not providing the required information, in time, for its reparation claim of around $700,000 from the activists. The original sentencing date was September 14. A new date has yet to be confirmed.

Seven of the activists climbed the drilling tower of the Noble Discoverer on February 24, while it was moored in Port Taranaki. All were arrested after a 77-hour occupation of the tower. An eighth activist was arrested on the first day of the operation.

Greenpeace New Zealand Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid says Shell's reparation claim is totally unjustified, given that the activists acted out of a moral duty.

"Along with the activists we drew the world's attention to Shell's plans for this hostile, yet fragile environment, in which an oil spill would be impossible to clean up.

"Since then it's been exposed that Shell's emergency response plan was hopelessly inadequate and failed when tested before the company gave up on drilling in the Arctic for this northern summer.

"The activists are not alone. Since they delayed the Noble Discoverer, back in February, more than two and a half million people have signed a petition calling on Shell to abandon its plans for the Arctic."


See more on the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Save The Arctic Support Page for more news, photos, video and other multimedia

See more of Lucy's role as an Eco-Warrior and Greenpeace Ambassador