US members of the Arctic 30 react to news of Amnesty

It's a fantastic feeling that soon I get to go home, I get to see my family and my friends. But it's not unmixed emotions. I mean, we don't need an amnesty. What we need is an apology. An amnesty is for criminals. We're not criminals. The crime was committed by the authorities who have arrested us illegally while we were conducting a peaceful protest. And Arctic is still under threat. We have received an amnesty, but Arctic has not received an amnesty. And then, of course, we're also very worried. I'm very worried about our friends in Russia. Okay, we will leave the country. They will stay here and they will have a permanent criminal record. Even if they are amnestied, they don't have to do time in prison. So it's a mixture of emotions, but by far the most overwhelming one is one of relief and anticipation of seeing my family and friends again soon. Well, this is a very good sign. We're relieved. But I won't really feel free until we're on the airplane home. I mean, it could still take some weeks. And most importantly, we need to see what it means for our Russian colleagues. Well, that's what we're really worried about. I don't have an idea. If it means that they have a criminal record that makes life harder for them in Russia, then it's not a good thing at all. They did nothing more than we did. As I said, it's a good sign. We're thankful to the Duma, but we really have to see what it means. Well, we have no idea. Absolutely no idea. It could be some weeks. It could be next week. We just don't know. When we see what it means, then we'll have a much better idea of what we're facing.