Estonia’s consul to St. Petersburg has been detained by Russian security officers while receiving classified documents from a Russian national, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS on Tuesday.
"The Federal Security Service in St. Petersburg detained an Estonian diplomat, consul of the Estonian consulate general in St. Petersburg Mart Latte while receiving classified documents from a Russian national," it said. "Such activities are incompatible with the status of a diplomatic worker and are openly hostile in respect of Russia."
According to the FSB, the foreign diplomat will be subject to measures in accordance with international law.
Under international law, diplomats enjoy immunity in the country where they work but they can be denied the right to stay in case of a breach of the law or hostile activities. According to the Vienna Convention, the receiving state can notify the accrediting state at any time that the head of the diplomatic mission or any other diplomatic employee is a persona non grata and his or her stay in the country is inadmissible.
In all, six consuls, including Latte, are working at the Estonian consulate general in St. Petersburg.
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In a statement issued through the agency's press service, officials said that Laette has been taken into custody after being "caught red-handed while receiving materials of a classified nature from a Russian citizen."
ReplyDeleteThe FSB stated that such activities "are incompatible with the status of a diplomatic representative and are clearly hostile in nature towards the Russian Federation." According to the FSB, "measures will be applied to the foreign envoy in accordance with the norms of international law."