Lucy Lawless Sentenced, Greenpeace, Oil Protest, Shell: Warrior Princess' 120-Hour Community Service Sentence 'Victory' Against Oil Drilling

Lucy Lawless is celebrating despite her 120-hour community service sentence for her protest demonstration on-board a Shell oil driller last year. The "Xena: Warrior Princess" star says that she has won a "great victory" after the sentencing was followed by the declining of a reparation request from the oil company. Shell sought for costs to be paid by the actress for her role in the protest. Seven other Greenpeace activists were sentenced along with the television star after pleading guilty to trespass charges. The New Zealand judge ordered them to pay $547 (or 651 New Zealand Dollars) to a port company on top of the 120-hour community service sentence.

A year ago, the New Zealand native actress and 6 other activists climbed a drilling tower on the vessel Noble Discoverer to protest oil exploration in the Arctic. The protestors had help from another who supported them from the ground.  Spending 4 days atop the 174-foot tower, Lawless camped out and blogged about her experience that delayed the exploration ship.

Regarding her sentencing and protest, Lawless stated:

"I consider it a great victory that the court has struck down the reparation demand from Shell, which I think was absolutely ludicrous."

She added that she was happy to do whatever else was required for her community service including cleaning toilets or picking up trash.

Lawless says she has no regrets about her involvement in the protest since it has helped highlight concerns about oil exploration in the Arctic. She also says that she plans to continue her efforts in protesting against oil drilling and climate change. According to Greenpeace over 2 million people have signed its petition to keep oil exploration out of the Arctic and making it a sanctuary.

The ship where Lawless and the others camped out was chartered by Shell Todd Oil Services, a New Zealand gas and oil operator. Shell sought around $545,000 (or 650,000 New Zealand dollars) in reparations from the protest but was declined. The activists' lawyers argued that this amount was too excessive and Judge Allan Roberts agreed, telling the oil company to purse the claim through the civil court system. No word from Shell Todd on whether or not they will take the judges advice. In a statement addressing today's news, the company said it has "always supported the efforts of law enforcement to respond to this incident and to deter such activity in the future."

When she isn't protesting oil companies, Lucy Lawless can be seen on the recent HBO series "Spartacus: War of the Damned" as Lucretia and as recurring character, Diane Lewis, on NBC's "Parks and Recreation."