A former Caldicot town councillor is one of 15 Greenpeace activists charged with piracy by Russian authorities.

On Wednesday 18th September, 30 activists were involved in a protest against the Gazprom Arctic drilling platform Prirazlomnaya.

Two tried to climb the side of the platform and hang a banner.

Among these activists was eco-warrior Anthony Perrett (pictured right), an ex-town councillor from Caldicot.

Last week, Russian President Vlademir Putin scoffed at the notion that the Greenpeace protesters were pirates. He said that "it is absolutely evident that they are, of course, not pirates."

Despite this, Mr Perrett, along with 14 other activists, have now formally been charged with piracy.

Responding to the news of the charges, Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said: "A charge of piracy is being laid against men and women whose only crime is to be possessed of a conscience.

"This is an outrage and represents nothing less than an assault on the very principle of peaceful protest. Any claim that these activists are pirates is as absurd as it is abominable.

"It is utterly irrational, it is designed to intimidate and silence us, but we will not be cowed.

"This is now the most serious threat to Greenpeace's peaceful environmental activism since agents of the French secret service bombed the Rainbow Warrior and killed our colleague Fernando Pereira because we stood against French nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific.

"Three decades later the activists of the Arctic Sunrise also took a stand, this time against the powerful vested interests of the oil industry, and they could now face the prospect of long periods in a Russian jail.

"I call on people from across the world, anybody who ever raised their voice in support of something they believe in, and especially the good people of Russia, to come to their aid at this moment and join us in demanding the release of the Arctic 30.

The Captain of the Arctic Sunrise, Peter Willcox – now in a Russian jail – was the Captain of the Rainbow Warrior when it was bombed in 1985.

A foreign office spokesman said: "We can confirm that the Arctic sunrise, sailing under the Dutch flag, was detained on 19th September.

"Anthony Perrett and the rest of the detainees are being given consular assistance."