Suspect arrested for drone flight over royal castle in Sweden
A man was arrested on Monday on suspicion of having flown a drone over Drottningholm’s castle, Sweden’s royal family’s private residence, near Stockholm.
According to local newspapers, the suspect, a Russian man in his 40s, claims that he is an ordinary tourist who was not aware that it is forbidden to fly drones over the royal castle. It should also be noted that with the exception of the royal family’s private quarters in the west wing, Drottningholm’s castle is open to the public and continues to be a popular tourist attraction in Stockholm.
So it is not really surprising that the man, who was arrested for the alleged violation of the Swedish “protection law”, was released later on Monday following a decision by prosecutors.
However, he will continue to be investigated by Sweden’s domestic intelligence service, Säpo, which is also investigating the matter.
Drone fear in Sweden
The Scandinavian country is already investigating a series of reports of unknown drones flying over its protected regions earlier this year.
On 14 January, several frivolous drone flights were seen over Sweden’s nuclear power plants, including one that accounts for 14% of the country’s total electricity production. Alarm bells rang again on January 17 and more drones were seen over not only nuclear power plants but also the country’s parliament building and both the workers’ palace and the private residence of Sweden’s monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Drones were discovered earlier at Kiruna and Luleå airportsalso.
It is worth emphasizing that these drone incidents come at a time of increased military preparedness in Sweden. The country’s military has recently begun patrolling the capital on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea amid rising tensions between NATO and Russia over Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine’s borders.
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