By Katie Stallard, Russia Correspondent
Two British men detained on piracy charges after a Greenpeace protest at an oil rig in Russia have lost their appeals for bail.
Video journalist Kieron Bryan, 29, and activist Philip Ball, 42, are among 30 people being held in the Arctic port of Murmansk after several Greenpeace campaigners attempted to scale the platform of the rig on September 18.
The Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, was boarded at gunpoint by security forces.
Witnesses described armed masked men rappelling onto the ship from helicopters, and warning shots being fired nearby.
All those on board, including six British citizens, have been charged with "piracy undertaken by an organised group".
Kieron Bryan appears in court in Russia It is a serious crime in Russia, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Mr Bryan's family have stressed that he is a journalist, not an activist, who is not a member of Greenpeace.
Appealing from the dock of Murmansk Regional Court today, he said: "My name is Kieron Bryan, I was born on August 9, 1984, I live in in London.
"I am a freelance video journalist, working for several companies and media organisations. Prior to December last year I worked for the Times newspaper."
Mr Bryan's lawyer asked for him to be bailed to a local hotel on a surety of one million roubles - around £20,000.
Protesters attempt to scale the oil rig He offered to submit to any other preventive measure that did not involve depriving him of his liberty.
"If everyone was arrested for writing an article, journalists would not exist," Mr Bryan said in his final address to the court.
He was visibly upset as his appeal was refused. He will now be returned to a pre-trial detention centre.
In a letter to his family last week, he said that he was spending 23 hours a day in his cell, which he shares with a Russian man.
He wrote that the food was very poor, that it was very noisy and that he was being moved around a lot.
His brother said a consular official who visited him described him as "emotionally and mentally drained".
Protesters outside the Russian embassy in London In a parallel hearing, in another room at the Murmansk court, a second judge considered the case of Mr Ball, a father-of-three, from Oxford.
Mr Ball recorded a video message before he left, talking about how difficult it would be to leave his children.
He said: "It's quite sad to say goodbye and head off on something like this. The kids don't like you being away.
"I don't know when I'll be back. That's quite hard. Just knowing that they're here without me around, they don't want me to go, it's tricky."
In court his lawyer argued that he posed no threat of escape because he did not have his passport, but the judge rejected his appeal.
Russian security forces seize the Arctic Sunrise ship Commenting on the two cases, John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK, said: "This decision flies in the face of all reason.
"We have offered the Russian courts significant sureties that would guarantee the return of all those accused if and when a trial took place.
"The decision of the court to refuse bail looks increasingly like the Russian authorities are meting out unnecessarily harsh punishment even before any trial.
"In the case of Kieron Bryan, he is a professional journalist, travelling on the Greenpeace ship, witnessing a peaceful protest against oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
"He has committed no crime and should be released immediately."
Thirty people from 18 different countries remain in custody. A further four appeal hearings, including that of the US-born captain, have been scheduled for Monday.
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