Greenpeace activists' hopes of early release from Russian detention dashed Greenpeace ship "Arctic Sunrise" is seen anchored outside the Arctic port city of Murmansk. Hopes of gaining the early release of Greenpeace's Arctic 30 activists have been dashed with Russian authorities decision to revise charges against them, and rule out international arbitration. Russia's Federal Investigative Committee has dropped piracy claims against the activists, including three Australian residents, but replaced them with hooliganism charges, which still carry a jail term of up to seven years, instead of 15 years for piracy. The Russian Foreign Ministry also said it would not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in a case mounted by the Netherlands to immediately free the activists. Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise was seized and the 30 aboard were arrested on September 19 after a protest at a state-owned oil rig in the Barents Sea. They were denied bail in recent hearings in Murmansk, and are being held in detention centres. Sydney-based Briton Alexandra Harris, 27, wrote to her parents recently of her fears of "rotting" in a very cold prison. "Being in prison is like slowly dying," her letter said. You literally wish your life away and mark off the days. Tasmanian radio operator Colin Russell, 59, and Adelaide-based boat mechanic Jon Beauchamp are also behind bars. Greenpeace said the hooliganism charge represented an assault on the principle of peaceful protest. "We will contest the trumped up charge of hooliganism as strongly as we contested the piracy allegations," Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace Russia said in a statement. They are both fantasy charges that bear no relation to reality. Women of the punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in a penal colony on hooliganism charges after their 2012 church performance entitled: "Punk Prayer - Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!" The Investigative Committee on Wednesday dismissed Greenpeace's claim that the protest was peaceful, saying "anyone who illegally and premeditatedly seizes ... a stationary platform is committing a crime, no matter what their motive." The committee said the investigation was continuing, and reiterated an earlier statement that it could still bring additional severe charges against some activists, including the use of force against representatives of the state. On Monday the Dutch government, as the flag state of Arctic Sunrise, lodged its case for the immediate release of the ship and crew with the Hamburg-based ITLOS. Dutch investigators found no case to answer when they examined Russian claims against the activists, and said Russia had detained the ship without Dutch consent. "Accordingly, the ongoing detention of the vessel and its crew, irrespective of its conformity with domestic law of the Russian Federation, is an internationally wrongful act," the Dutch case to ITLOS said. But the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday it did not accept ITLOS's jurisdiction in a Russian sovereign matter, such as the Arctic Sunrise case. The activists of Greenpeace, in their actions with respect to the Prirazlomnaja platform, violated Russian law on its Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf, the Foreign Ministry said. On this basis, the Russian side informed the Netherlands and ITLOS that it does not accept the arbitration procedure in the case of a ship Arctic Sunrise, and does not intend to intervene in the proceedings before the Tribunal on the issue of interim measures.