Russia was a "no-show" at a hearing with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea regarding the Dutch bid to force the immediate release of the detained Greenpeace activists, as well as the release of their ship, the Arctic Sunrise.
Liesbeth Lijnzaad, a representative for the Netherlands, urged the court to go ahead with the proceedings despite Russia not being in attendance. The 30 detainees, also known as the Arctic 30, are being charged with hooliganism for their Sept. 18 protest in which they tried to climb on to Russia's offshore Arctic oil rig.
Russia has said it does not accept the arbitration procedure and will not participate in the proceedings.
"The Kingdom of the Netherlands regrets the decision by the Russian Federation to refuse to participate. It is the first time that this tribunal is confronted by a default of appearance by Russia. Instances of non-appearance have been virtually nonexistent in the past 25 years or so."
Russian Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that the protestors not only threatened the security of the Russian workers at the oil rig, but that they threatened the environment by disturbing the workers.