Norway teens face fine for 'throwing stones at Russia'
NTB/The Local - [email protected] •
16 Aug, 2016
Updated Tue 16 Aug 2016 10:34 CEST
Two people will likely be fined after throwing stones across Norway’s land border with Russia.
Just because Russia is only a stone’s throw away from Norway at spots, doesn’t mean people should take that literally.
That’s what four Norwegians found out the hard way on Sunday, when they were detained by Norwegian border control agents after throwing rocks into Russia.
The incident occurred at Grense Jakobslev, just south of the Barents Sea. There, a small creek that is as narrow as four metres in some spots separates Norway from Russia in what is Europe’s northernmost land border.
Finnmark Police wrote on Twitter that border officials had arrested four people for throwing stones across the creek.
Grense Jakobselv: Grensevakten har anholdt 4 personer som kastet stein over til Russland. Politiet til stedet for å bistå
— Finnmark PD (Øst) (@OPSostfinnmark) August 14, 2016
“A car with four people stopped at Grense Jakobselva, a place where there is just a very short distance over to Russia. Two of these are charged with having thrown stones over to Russia,” operations manager Thomas Pettersen later told NTB.
The four individuals, all Norwegians, ranged in age from the teens to the 40s. The younger two of the party admitted to throwing the stones.
Throwing stones across the border is a violation of Norwegian law, which does not allow for “offensive behaviour at the border, targeting the adjacent state or its authorities".
A sign along the border. Photo: Berit Keilen, Scanpix
“There are signs that clearly state that it is not allowed to do such things,” said Pettersen, who say that the rock throwers gave no good reason for their actions but said that they bore no grudges against Russia.
The two boys could face fines from 1,000 kroner all the way up to 10 million kroner if attorneys decide to press criminal charges.
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Just because Russia is only a stone’s throw away from Norway at spots, doesn’t mean people should take that literally.
That’s what four Norwegians found out the hard way on Sunday, when they were detained by Norwegian border control agents after throwing rocks into Russia.
The incident occurred at Grense Jakobslev, just south of the Barents Sea. There, a small creek that is as narrow as four metres in some spots separates Norway from Russia in what is Europe’s northernmost land border.
Finnmark Police wrote on Twitter that border officials had arrested four people for throwing stones across the creek.
Grense Jakobselv: Grensevakten har anholdt 4 personer som kastet stein over til Russland. Politiet til stedet for å bistå
— Finnmark PD (Øst) (@OPSostfinnmark) August 14, 2016
“A car with four people stopped at Grense Jakobselva, a place where there is just a very short distance over to Russia. Two of these are charged with having thrown stones over to Russia,” operations manager Thomas Pettersen later told NTB.
The four individuals, all Norwegians, ranged in age from the teens to the 40s. The younger two of the party admitted to throwing the stones.
Throwing stones across the border is a violation of Norwegian law, which does not allow for “offensive behaviour at the border, targeting the adjacent state or its authorities".
A sign along the border. Photo: Berit Keilen, Scanpix
“There are signs that clearly state that it is not allowed to do such things,” said Pettersen, who say that the rock throwers gave no good reason for their actions but said that they bore no grudges against Russia.
The two boys could face fines from 1,000 kroner all the way up to 10 million kroner if attorneys decide to press criminal charges.
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