The Supreme Court Appeals Board overturned the ruling on the release of Andrey Yakunin, accused of flying a drone in Norway.
The Supreme Court canceled the release order of the Russian businessman Andrey Yakunin. The 47-year-old remained accused and arrested for drone flight over Svalbard last week.
The detention was appealed to the Hålogaland Court of Appeal, where the majority ruled that Yakunin had not violated the ban on Russian planes by piloting a drone, and therefore had to be released.
The Supreme Court believes that the Court of Appeal misinterpreted the legislation, overturning the ruling. The appeal must therefore be dealt with again by the Court of Appeal.
VG has already mentioned that the man’s father, oligarch Vladimir Yakunin, has close ties to President Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Andrey Yakunin himself denied criminal guilt and to have links with the Russian authorities. He has both Russian and British citizenship and has previously claimed to consider himself British.
– Disappointed with PST
The Supreme Court finds that the regulation’s ban on landing, taking off or flying over Norway with “non-Russian-registered aircraft” that are owned, leased or controlled by the Russians also includes drones.
– “In the term” aircraft “, there is no distinction between registered and unregistered ships, writes the Supreme Court in its sentence, and adds:
– There is therefore no doubt that the first alternative includes a ban on landing, taking off or flying over Norwegian territory for all Russian airlines, regardless of whether the aircraft is registered or not, “writes the Supreme Court in its ruling. .
On Thursday, Yakunin himself commented on the PST’s appeal in a press release via his defenders.
– I am disappointed that the prosecution has challenged the decision of the Court of Appeals, he said.
He said he has done everything he can to help police inform the case and is confident he will not be found guilty in a possible trial.
– If my case goes to court, I am convinced that my innocence will be obvious to the court. My legal team and I want to show that there is no doubt that I was on vacation in Norway and that it is not a crime to fly a drone as a hobby, she said.
– PST acknowledges this, says senior adviser Martin Bernsen in PST to NTB that the Supreme Court now supports police understanding of the regulation.
