Another Russian arrested for illegal drone flying – news Troms and Finnmark

– He is charged with having flown a drone in Norway. A drone, some memory cards, a mobile phone and other storage media have been seized, which we are now working to open and review, says police attorney Jacob Bergh to news. On Saturday afternoon, the man was produced for remand for four weeks. – We think we need these weeks to go through the fittings, says Berg. The ruling is expected during the afternoon. Troms police district was tipped off on Friday morning that a person had been observed standing and taking photographs at Tromsø Airport in Langnes. It was one of the employees at the airport who notified the police. A 51-year-old Russian citizen living in Russia has been charged with illegal drone flying in Norway. He is in custody in Tromsø. Photo: Rune Andreassen / news Took pictures of Bell helicopter The police moved out, and after conversations with the 51-year-old Russian, he was arrested, says Bergh. – We have looked a bit at the open camera roll on a hand-held camera. There are pictures from the airport of the churches and one of the defense helicopters. – What agenda do you think the man had? – It is far too early to say, we are trying to shed light on that through questioning and review of the seizures, including the mobile phone. – Why is PST involved in the case? – It is mainly because it is stated in the Police Act that PST must investigate violations of the law which prohibits Russians from flying drones in Norway. Lawyer Ola Larsen defends the Russian citizen. Photo: Privat Petitioned to be released The detention meeting was finished around 2.30pm. The man has informed the police that he came to Norway via Storskog on Thursday and was on his way to Svalbard. According to the police, he has admitted to having flown a drone in Norway. The Russian’s defender is Ola Larsen. – The accused has given a statement, attended a prison meeting and applied for release. We do not wish to make any further comment at this time, he says. Arrest number two This is the second arrest this week. On Thursday, a Russian citizen was arrested at the border crossing at Storskog in Finnmark. He is also said to have flown a drone in Norway. Due to the sanctions against Russia, all aviation activities in Norway are prohibited for Russians. This also applies to flying with drones. – We see no connection between these two cases, says police attorney Jacob Bergh. Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) tells NTB on Saturday that she is aware of the latest arrest. – I am aware that the police have arrested a Russian person with a drone at the airport in Tromsø. At the same time, I cannot comment on cases that are under investigation. But it is good that the police are vigilant, says the Minister of Justice to NTB. Mehl further says that it is a high priority to strengthen efforts to uncover illegal activity on Norwegian soil. – The police have a close collaboration with PST, and the strengthening of preparedness that has been done over the past six months has worked well, she says. – Has routines Harald Kvam is press spokesperson at Avinor: – A person was observed with what turned out to be a drone and then Avinor always contacts the police. We have routines for that. It is illegal to fly a drone within five kilometers of Norwegian airports and it is something that both we and the police take very seriously, mainly because of flight safety. What could be interesting for a Russian to film with a drone there? – I don’t want to go into detail about what could be the reason why some film with a drone. The police may have to comment on that in more detail when they have investigated the case. What happened next when you contacted the police? – I don’t know the details of how this happened, but we identified the person and contacted the police, so they came and arrested him. Now they have issued a press release on this afterwards that this is a person who has been arrested.



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