Putin says: Greenpeace activists "lawbreakers" "not pirates"

Greenpeace photo

The Times of India reports "Greenpeace activists 'not pirates' but broke law: Putin":

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that 30 Greenpeace activists arrested in Russia over their open-sea protest in the Arctic were not "pirates" but they did break the law.
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"Our law enforcement agencies, our border guards did not know who was trying to seize the platform under the guise of Greenpeace," he said.

He added that the siege of a shopping centre in Kenya heightened fears.

"And against the background of the bloody events that happened in Kenya, anything could happen after all," he said.

The Greenpeace incident happened before the Kenyan siege began, however.

Putin apparently reserves reserves the right to be concerned in an alternate time line in which the Kenya thing happened first.

In any event, this appears to be setting up  hand slaps for the "activists" should this incident go to trial.