Russian court extends pre-trial detention of Australian Greenpeace activist Extended detention: Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell stands in a cell during a court hearing in St. Petersburg, Russia. He is one of 30 activists arrested following a Greenpeace protest at an Arctic oil rig. A court in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg extended the pre-trial detention of Colin Russell, one of the 30 Greenpeace activists arrested for an Arctic protest, for three months until February 24. Mr Russell, an Australian citizen, was the first of the 30 detained activists to have his case heard and the ruling by the court creates a precedent that could mean all those arrested will have their detention extended in a similar fashion. I know my birthday is coming up and I don't want you to be sad for missing it The judge at Saint Petersburg's Primorsky court ordered to "leave the pre-trial restrictions unchanged until February 24," and a request for bail or house arrest was denied. I love you all. I love everybody," Russell, 59, said after the judge announced her decision. "I am not a criminal," he said in comments released by Greenpeace. Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said: "This case is now a circus." "We will continue to pursue every legal avenue we can, and leave no stone unturned, until each and every one of them is home with their families," he said in a statement. Earlier in the day Russell insisted he was innocent. "I have spent two months in detention, having done nothing wrong," Russell, looking visibly upset, said from a metal cage in the courtroom. I have not committed a crime so I have nothing to run from. On Saturday, Mr Russell's family pleaded for his release from detention, releasing 30 white doves at a protest in Sydney. Mr Russell's daughter Maddy, read a letter she had written to her father. Mum and I have been a good team so far, even minus our third player, and have been looking after each other.