– If he is convicted, and the appeal is unsuccessful, then we have to go to Strasbourg. If we do that, I’m sure we’ll succeed, says Antony Brown. He is Andrey Yakunin’s British lawyer. With Strasbourg, he means that they will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The background is the main argument of Yakunin’s lawyers – that he is a British citizen. They therefore believe that a sentence would be discrimination on the basis of his nationality. Yakunin’s British lawyer, Antony Brown. Photo: news British or Russian? Yakunin has dual citizenship, both British and Russian. In court, it is up to the Norwegian state to judge which nationality should be used as a basis, and it has therefore been decided that he is considered a Russian citizen. – He moved to England in 2008 and received British citizenship in 2015. His connection to Russia is weak. His connection to London is considerably stronger. It has been thoroughly documented in court, said Bernt Heiberg, who is one of Yakunin’s defenders, in court on Thursday. The headquarters of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, designed by architect Richard Rogers. Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP The British embassy informs news that it has offered Yakunin the same consular assistance it offers all British citizens who are arrested in Norway. Brown compares himself and Yakunin. He can fly a drone in Norway without problems, but his client is imprisoned for it. – They are prosecuting a British man based on his origins. That can’t be right, he says. Long process Lawyer Erlend Andreas Methi has extensive experience with human rights issues. He is clear that taking up a case at the ECtHR can take a long time. – First you have to go through the entire Norwegian legal system before you can even complain, says Methi. The case must first go through the district court, where it is now. Then you have to appeal the case further to the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court. Lawyer Erlend Andreas Methi. Photo: Wiersholm It is only if the appeal process in Norwegian courts is not upheld or rejected that one can try to bring the case before the European Court of Human Rights. Norwegian courts must therefore first have had the opportunity to take a position on the alleged human rights violation. – Then you can send a complaint to the EMD, but the needle’s eye for a complaint to get through is narrow. It can take time before the EMD processes the complaint, and even longer before a case is eventually processed. This can take years, says Methi. Misses British involvement Lawyer Antony Brown misses greater British involvement in the case. – My disappointment, my criticism of the British government is their decision not to intervene. I respect that, but I think it’s wrong, he says. He believes the British government could have been involved in deciding whether Yakunin should be considered British or Russian.
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Yakunin’s lawyer will take the case to the human rights court if he loses – news Troms and Finnmark
