In Russia, the establishment of a closely guarded terrorist prison in the Arctic region is being considered. According to research professor Timo Koivurova, the intention should be treated with caution.
A top prison reserved for terrorists should be built in the Arctic region, suggests a member of the Russian Parliament or Duma Ivan Sukharev. They tell about it Norwegian public radio NRK and Barents Observer – online magazine.
In Sukharev’s opinion, a prison specifically aimed at terrorists should be placed either on the arctic island of Novaya Zemlya or on Vyippuvuori.
Novaya Zemlya is a twin island belonging to Russia and the surrounding group of small islands north of mainland Russia in the Arctic Ocean.
The Svalbards, on the other hand, belong to Norway. Its administration is defined in the Agreement on Vyippuvuorti, which also gives Russia the right to exploit the area’s natural resources.
Russia owns, for example, a coal mine in Svalbard, around which Barentsburg, the second largest population center in Svalbard, has grown. According to the Barents Observer magazine, Russia has also planned other related activities for the region for tourism and arctic research.
“It’s not possible”
Norway is represented on the islands by a governor Lars Fause. According to Fause, who was interviewed by the Barents Observer magazine, Russia’s prison plans for Huippuvuori will not succeed without Norway’s consent.
The professor of the Arctic Center of the University of Lapland agrees Timo Koivurova.
– In principle, Russia and the other member countries of the Svalbard Agreement have the opportunity to utilize the natural resources of the area. The fact that a contracting state would establish a prison there will not be approved. And it wouldn’t even be theoretically possible, says Koivurova.
According to Koivurova, it is a completely different matter if Russia wants to establish a prison on its own territory, on the island of Novaya Zemlya.
– There would be quite a lot of symbolism in that, if you think about the time of the old Soviet Union and the idea of taking dissidents to Siberia.
On the other hand, Koivurova does not consider individual Duma members’ throws to be projects to be taken very seriously yet.
– I would be quite skeptical as to whether such a throw is going forward. At the moment, the Duma could be described more as a think tank from which things are thrown in the direction of ordinary people. What the government actually does is a completely different matter, says Koivurova.
“It’s about national security”
According to Sukharev, who was interviewed by the Russian state news channel RIA Novosti, a terrorist prison would be well suited to the Arctic region, because the remote location would prevent terrorists from spreading their extremist ideology to other inmates.
According to Sukharev, it is also about the national security of Russia as a whole. It is said that Sukharev has already presented the matter to the management of the Russian Prison Service.