Courts in both northern and western Norway are being asked to extend the custody of Russians arrested recently for flying drones and using them for aerial photography. An appeals court in Hordaland ordered one Russian man held at least until November 18.
A lower court had ordered his release, but prosecuters appealed and were successful. The appeals court didn’t believe the Russian’s claims that he didn’t know his use of drones violated sanctions against Russia.
In another case, police are also asking a court in Finnmark to keep a Russian man in custody after he was stopped at the Russian border in Storskog. He has since given police access to drone photos he’d encrypted and continues to claim he is simply a travel-happy hobby photographer. Norwegian authorities, meanwhile, suspect that Russians claiming to be tourists have used drones to film military installations, power plants and other critical infrastructure.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
