TABJ - July 20 - A court order obtained by Cairn Energy, essentially acting as a gag on Greenpeace for all outgoing media relating to the oil company’s practises in Arctic drilling, has come under public scrutiny.

The environmental organisation, which attempted to make an example of Cairn by sending 60 employees dressed as polar bears to the oil company’s Edinburgh HQ on Monday, says that the order redacts any Twitter entries, Facebook updates or other comment made about the company’s drilling.

Greenpeace has deemed the order to be a “legal hammer” aimed at stopping any public comment about Cairn’s “secret Arctic response plan.” The battle continues in court too, where on Tuesday 17 people attended a hearing related to the incident at Cairn’s headquarters.

“Cairn Energy is using its legal muscle to try and gag us from telling the truth about their dangerous oil drilling in the fragile Arctic environment,” executive director of Greenpeace UK, John Sauven says.

“The company is clearly worried that our volunteers may have got their hands on their secret Arctic spill response documents and now they are determined to continue their cover-up by any means they can – even if that means impinging on important freedoms of expression.”

Cairn has confirmed that an “interim interdict was granted by the Court of Session in Edinburgh” and highlighted its concerns regarding security and the safety of individuals as the basis for this move, rather than any attempt to prevent public comment. In June the company’s drilling between 100 and 200 miles offshore of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, was disrupted when two Greenpeace activists commandeered equipment.