Canadian Greenpeace activist detained in Russia arrives home

Video: Two Montreal families are breathing a sigh of relief after a pair of Greenpeace activists is freed in Russia. But one of the activists said every moment behind bars was worth it. Paola Samuel reports.

MONTREAL – Canadian Greenpeace activist Alexandre Paul has no doubt what the worst moment was during his recent harrowing experience in Russia.

“When we knew it was going to be a charge of piracy, which meant up to 15 years in prison, and I realized my parents might not be around for that length of time,” Paul told a news conference as he arrived in Montreal on Friday.

“That made me panic the most.”

Paul’s return to Canada followed three months of uncertainty – two of which were spent in jail.

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READ MORE: 2 Canadians among activists charged with piracy after protest (Oct. 3)

“I’m really, really happy to be back home,” he said, surrounded by his mother Nicole and father Raymond. “It wasn’t the most joyous experience, I can tell you that. But every moment I spent behind bars was worth it.”

Watch: Paul speaks to the media after arriving home in Montreal.

Fellow Canadian activist Paul Ruzycki, of Port Colborne, Ont., is facing a slight delay in his own departure from Russia because his exit visa hasn’t been processed.

A spokesman for Greenpeace says Ruzycki is expected to arrive home soon.

The two Canadians were among 30 members of Greenpeace arrested at a September protest outside a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.

The activists had their cases closed this week under a recent amnesty passed by the Russian parliament.

They were originally charged with piracy when some of them attempted to scale an offshore drilling platform in the Arctic belonging to Russian state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom.

The decision to grant amnesty has been seen by many as part of an attempt by the Kremlin to dampen criticism of Russia’s human rights record ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February.