The Clash bassist Paul Simonon was arrested in June along with a group of Greenpeace activists aboard the Leiv Eiriksson oil rig off the coast of Greenland, as reported by Pitchfork. Simonon boarded the ship masquerading as an assistant cook, Greenpeace revealed, joining the other activists demanding that Cairn Energy, one of the largest oil and gas companies in Europe, make public it’s response plan for an Arctic oil spill possibly on the scale of the BP disaster.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
Drilling had to stop when activists breached a restricted area, according to the Guardian. Activists were charged with “hijacking” the rig, and were jailed for two weeks, during which time Simonon managed to keep his true identity secret.
Greenpeace also revealed that an impromptu jam session broke out whilst on the open sea, with a fellow activist remarking that Simonon was “not bad and that he ought to pursue music”. As previously reported, The Good, the Bad & the Queen played a benefit show with Greenpeace at London’s famed Coronet in November.
Simonon produced the above artwork on his cell wall during his detainment, with art supplies from secret trips to the art store with a wise guard whom agreed to keep his secret after recognizing him, according to Greenpeace’s blog.
Check out this video Greenpeace posted on the incident:
Leave a Comment