Russia drops charges against Greenpeace Arctic crew 25 December 2013 Last updated at 14:48 Russia is in the process of dropping charges against the remaining 29 Greenpeace crew members who were detained in the Russian Arctic. Around 20 have been processed, with more expected later as part of an amnesty passed by Russia's parliament. Twenty-eight activists and two freelance journalists were arrested in September as they staged a protest at a Russian offshore oil rig. The case against one of the group, Anthony Perrett, was closed on Tuesday. All 30, of whom six were Britons, had faced charges of hooliganism and were held in jail, first in the city of Murmansk then later in St Petersburg, before being released on bail in November. The activists had been asked to attend a meeting at Russia's powerful Investigative Committee, where the criminal case against them was being dropped en masse, Greenpeace said. But an Italian member of the group was told he would have to wait until Thursday to have his case dropped because no translator was available. Officially the amnesty passed by parliament was to mark the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution, but it is widely assumed that the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics were a major factor, says the BBC's Daniel Sandford in Moscow. On Monday, two members of punk protest band Pussy Riot jailed for staging an anti-government protest in a Moscow cathedral, were freed under amnesty. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova said the amnesty had been a PR stunt by the government ahead of the Sochi Games. Great relief Greenpeace told the BBC it was the start of the "final chapter" in their release. The group was hoping to return home before the Russian new year shutdown, our correspondent says. Mr Perrett, from Newport, south Wales, told the BBC on Tuesday it was a "great relief" to have the charges against him dropped. From our point of view, we are entirely innocent. The only crimes being committed in the Arctic are those of the oil industry... and that is of great concern to us all," he said. President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will toughen steps to guard against interference in its development of the Arctic region.