Greenpeace leaders from Norway said Friday their right to peaceful protest is getting sidelined by the economic interests of those in the energy industry.

Greenpeace Netherlands Program Director Joris Thijssen and three other activist leaders said the advocacy group's activity, including putting life and liberty on the line, is protected into the fundamental right to protest.

"These rights, long considered a mark of our civilization, are now being stripped away at the behest of a handful of oil companies who view the law only as a tool for the imposition of their will, and civil rights as a challenge that can be overcome," they said in a joint statement.

This week, the advocacy group said its Arctic Sunrise protest vessel was seized by Spanish authorities following a protest against drilling activities by Spanish energy company Repsol near the Canary Islands.

Spanish authorities said they were investigating Greenpeace for violation of maritime traffic rules. A Greenpeace video from the weekend shows the ship's captain refusing Spanish military orders to leave an area near the Repsol drilling site.

The incident comes three months after Russian authorities seized Arctic Sunrise following a protest against drilling activity in the arctic waters.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the action "had the appearance of extremist activity."

Greenpeace said it's been pre-empted by governments it said are siding with oil companies. In October, a Dutch judge issued an order against Greenpeace before it planned a protest against a shipment of oil drawn by Russian companies from arctic oil fields.

Gazprom Neft, the oil division of Russian energy company Gazprom, confirmed in September a tanker filled with 200,000 barrels of oil was shipped to markets in northwest Europe. It was the second tanker of oil delivered from the arctic Novoportovskoye field at the Yamal Peninsula.

Greenpeace said it was the victim of "an ongoing campaign of intimidation aimed at keeping the views of the public out of the picture, a campaign that stretches from the frozen Arctic to the coastlines of New Zealand."