Actress Lucy Lawless, best known for her title role in "Xena: Warrior Princess," was fined and sentenced to community service for protesting aboard a Shell oil rig last year.
The New Zealand actress and seven other Greenpeace activists pled guilty to trespass charges and were fined roughly $547 each, as well as sentenced to 120 hours of community service, according to the Associated Press.
Last February, Lawless, a devoted Greenpeace activist, climbed onto a drilling tower aboard an Shell oil rig to protest oil drilling in the Arctic. According to the AP, she "spent four days atop the 174-foot (53-meter) tower, camping and blogging about her experiences. The action briefly delayed the ship's voyage."
The company that chartered the ship, Shell Todd Oil Services, originally sought around $545,000 in reparations from Lawless and her fellow protesters, reported the AP, but today, a New Zealand judge struck down Shell Todd's demands, calling them excessive.
"I consider it a great victory that the court has struck down the reparation demand from Shell, which I think was absolutely ludicrous," Lawless said in a statement provided by the AP.
Lawless maintained an upbeat attitude on Twitter, saying, "And may I compliment the New Plymouth Police on having the cleanest cells in NZ - possible, the World."
And when a friend on Twitter asked her what kind of community service she might be doing, Lawless said, "No. But I think toilets are in my future." Another Twitter friend said, "Cleaning toilets. Isn't there nothing more useful to do?" and Lawless shot back, "Have you ever considered that the people who clean public conveniences deserve to get danger money?"
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