Lucy Lawless arrested during oil-drilling protest
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Lucy Lawless arrested during oil-drilling protest

www.reuters.com   | 28.02.2012.

LOS ANGELES, Feb 27 (TheWrap.com) - Sean Young wasn't the only actress to end up with criminal charges Monday after the Oscars; Lucy Lawless also found herself on the wrong side of the law.
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Most people would consider Lawless' reason for being in custody a bit more noble, though.

"Spartacus" and "Xena Warrior Princess" actress Lawless was arrested early Monday along with several other protestors from Greenpeace New Zealand, following a four-day occupation of the Shell oil drilling ship the Noble Discoverer in New Zealand's Port Taranaki.

Lawless and her fellow protesters were charged with burglary and will appear in New Plymouth District Court on Thursday, according to the New Zealand Herald.

The occupation was a protest of Arctic drilling. The Noble Discoverer was scheduled to travel to the Chukchi Sea, off of Alaska, to drill exploratory wells -- which Greenpeace New Zealand argues would be environmentally disastrous.

In all, the group spent 77 hours atop the Noble Discoverer's drilling tower, according to Greenpeace New Zealand. In the wee hours of Monday morning, Lawless tweeted an accusation that adversaries of the group were employing Guantanamo Bay-style tactics on them.

"Loud music over speakers about 1.30 AM. They starting to go Guantanamo on our ass?" Lawless wrote.

Lawless' spokespeople have not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment.

Several hours later, the actress announced via Twitter that police had begun to descend on the ship.

"Will be disappointed if we have to leave but will go peacefully," she wrote.

Despite the arrests, Greenpeace New Zealand claimed victory in the protest.

"Seven of us climbed up that drillship to stop Arctic drilling, but 133,000 of us came down," a post on the organization's web site reads. That's a reference to the 133,000 emails that the group claims were sent to Shell U.S. president Marvin Odum, urging that the company cancel its plans to drill in the Arctic.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)



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