Norwegian Prosecutors Request 120-Day Prison Sentence For Businessman Yakunin - Reports

MURMANSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2022) The prosecutor's office of the Norwegian city of Tromso has asked a court to sentence Andrey Yakunin, son of former president of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin, to 120 days in prison for flying a drone over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norwegian channel NRK tv reported on Thursday.

Yakunin, who has Russian and UK citizenship, has been in custody since he was detained in the city of Hammerfest in October. He was charged with video shooting from a drone in Svalbard, which is prohibited by sanctions imposed against Russians by the Norwegian authorities after the beginning of military operation in Ukraine.

The prosecution believes that the seriousness of the act committed by Yakunin cannot be considered in isolation. The prosecutor pointed out that "information from drone recordings can be used to prepare and plan a possible sabotage from the Russian side," according to the report.

At the same time, Yakunin's lawyer John Christian Elden argues that the prosecution misinterprets the purpose of the sanctions law, the report said.

"Yakunin is not a criminal, but he should be punished because he is Russian. This is how I perceive the accusation," Elden was quoted by the NRK TV as saying.

Yakunin is assisting the local police in the investigation. According to his lawyers, there is no information on the website of the Svalbard governor about the ban on the use of drones by foreigners.

At least seven Russian citizens have recently been detained in different regions of Norway for video shooting from drones.