MOSCOW, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A woman who is refusing to eat because she isn't being given vegan food, are among 30 Greenpeace activists being held without bail, officials said.
Three of the 30 Greenpeace activists aboard of an ice-breaking ship in the Arctic Ocean were arrested by Russian officials in mid-September and charged with piracy after they allegedly attempted to scale an off-shore oil rig in protest of Russia's drilling in the region.
All 30 are being held without bail pending pretrial hearings Nov. 24. Lawyers have appealed the bail rulings but none have been granted an appeals hearing, RIA Novosti reported Monday. The activists face 15 years in prison if convicted.
One of the three individuals arraigned Monday is Sini Saarela, a Finnish activist who is a vegan. Saarela's lawyer said her client is "starving" in prison because she's not being fed properly. Saarela has a thyroid condition thought it wasn't immediately clear if the medical problem was related to the dietary requirements.
Neither Greenpeace nor the Russian government had commented on Saarela's situation, RIA Novosti said.
