Yakunin was acquitted by Nord-Troms and Senja District Court in early December. It happened after he was charged with flying a drone in Svalbard. After the acquittal, the prosecution determined that it was urgent to get a legal clarification of the issue. Now state attorney Geir Evanger says that there is not as much urgency anymore. – The main reason is that we do not see that there is so much urgency in getting a decision anymore. Nobody is in custody or serving time in these cases, says Evanger. When Andrey Yakunin was acquitted, several Russians were still in custody for the same thing, but the police released them before Christmas. Yakunin himself was arrested in Hammerfest on 17 October last year. Then he had sailed from Svalbard with his boat, “Firebird” Sends an appeal – We see no reason to bring it before the Supreme Court when the element of urgency is more or less gone, says Evanger. State Attorney Geir Evanger, photographed here on another occasion, believes there is no longer any urgency for a legal clarification. Photo: Martin HW Zondag / news The appeal will be sent to the Hålogaland Court of Appeal as soon as possible. The court must first decide whether the appeal should be processed at all. – The case is fundamentally important, so I don’t think it will be brushed aside, says Evanger. When the case can be processed is not clear. The Court of Appeal has set aside two weeks’ time, but sick leave at the National Prosecutor’s Office means that it will not go ahead. – Then we have to frame the matter again, and when that might happen it is difficult to say now, says Evanger. Two issues of contention In the district court, Andrey Yakunin was acquitted because the judges believe that two considerations have not been met. Defense attorneys John Christian Elden and Bernt Heiberg, in Nord-Troms and Senja district court in connection with the criminal case against Andrey Yakunin. Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen / NTB One is that the court says the definition in the sanctions regulations – “aircraft” – does not include small drones that most people can fly. Drone defendant Andrey Yakunin acquitted in the district court: – A strong and clear verdict The other important point in the acquittal from the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court is that the aircraft must be “registered” to be covered by the sanctions. – We disagree with that. We cannot see that neither international law obligations nor EU law change the definition that applies in Norwegian law, says Evanger.
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Drops appeal to the Supreme Court – news Troms and Finnmark
