THERE appears to have been a sudden outbreak of common sense in the Russian judicial system.

The decision yesterday to release Newport's Anthony Perrett and most of his fellow Greenpeace activists after more than a month in jail is fully justified.

In truth, Mr Perrett and the other 29 members of the multi-national crew aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise should never have been locked up.

They still face charges of hooliganism (having originally been charged with piracy), but there is a growing feeling that Russia is bowing to worldwide pressure to release the activists.

Mr Perrett and his colleagues are neither hooligans or pirates. They were staging a peaceful protest against oil exploration in the Arctic when their ship was stormed by Russian special forces.

Since their arrests, there has been a growing clamour for their release.

In Mr Perrett's case the campaign for him to be freed has been led by Newport MPs Jess Morden and Paul Flynn. Indeed, a letter of support for Mr Perrett from Ms Morden formed part of his bail application and was read out before the court yesterday.

The future for Mr Perrett and his colleagues remains uncertain.

They still face what are, in our view, ridiculously trumped-up charges that carry a sentence of up to seven years in jail.

Let us hope the granting of bail is the beginning of the end of the nightmare for Mr Perrett and the others.