SPAIN: Spain is holding Greenpeace's flagship Rainbow Warrior in port, and will not release it unless the environmental group pays a fine of €300,000, the group said yesterday.
The Rainbow Warrior has been held in the southeastern port of Valencia since June 13th when four Greenpeace activists chained themselves to a ship carrying African wood to try to stop it entering the port. The four were arrested and the ship was held.
Greenpeace, which accuses Spain of turning a blind eye to shipments of illegally felled timber, attacked the government for levying the €300,000 fine against an ecological group.
"The fine is unfair, abusive and absurd, with the only objective being to avoid Greenpeace's continual protests about the entry via Valencia of illegally felled wood which destroys the African forests," Greenpeace said in a statement.
Greenpeace says Spain is the world's biggest importer of African wood, much of which is obtained illegally. - (Reuters)