When the Hålogaland Court of Appeal heard the case yesterday, it was established that there is no legal prohibition against Russians being allowed to fly drones. Andrey Yakunin was arrested in Hammerfest on 18 October because he had flown a drone in Svalbard. The authorities have previously stated that it is prohibited. Andrey Yakunin has said that he has used a drone in Svalbard to take pictures of nature. According to the Hålogaland Court of Appeal, drones are not covered by “aircraft”, as stated in the Aviation Act. But tonight the Supreme Court overturns the Court of Appeal’s decision. The sailboat “Firebird” docked in Hammerfest after the owner Andrey Yakunin was arrested. Photo: Allan Klo / news The accused Russian is still in prison until a final decision is made. At a press conference on 19 October, the same day that it became public knowledge that the Russian had been arrested, assistant chief of PST Hedvig Moe said that there could be several reasons why drones are being flown in Norway. – The one possibility is simply that you have photographed Norwegian nature, and that there is nothing more suspicious about it. Another hypothesis is that the drones can be used to create fear and uncertainty, and then there is also a hypothesis that the drones are used to obtain information as part of espionage, said Moe. Lawyer Bernt Heiberg and lawyer Jens Bernhard Herstad after they had met their client in Tromsø prison on Thursday evening. Photo: Aurora Berg / news news met Yakunin’s defenders Bernt Heiberg and Jens Bernhard Herstad outside Tromsø prison, shortly after they were told that PST had appealed. – In our view, it is an incorrect and a very unfortunate decision that our client remains seated when the court has determined that there is no criminal offence, said Heiberg about PST’s appeal yesterday afternoon. news has not received a response to inquiries to the two defenders.
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The Supreme Court rules that it is illegal for Russians to fly drones – news Troms and Finnmark
