Kremlin says Swedish seizure of property "illegitimate"

MOSCOW, July 8 (Itar-Tass) -- The Kremlin property department
described the Swedish judicial decision to arrest a building of the
Russian trade mission near Stockholm as "illegitimate" and said it would
not comply with it.
The arrest was imposed upon a claim of German businessmen Franz
Sedelmayer who is seeking close to five million euro of compensation for
lost investments while launching a business in St. Petersburg in early
1990s.
The arrest was imposed by the Stockholm City Court and in early July
the Supreme Court of Sweden confirmed the judgment.
However spokesman of the Kremlin property administration Viktor
Khrekov said on Thursday the Swedish courts "incorrectly applied the norms
of international law."
In particular, the court referred to the UN Convention on
Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Property of December 2, 2004,
which has not yet entered into force.
"It is even more surprising that the Stockholm City Court did not
apply the provision of the 1968 Vienna Convention and the 1927 convention
between the USSR and Sweden which have to regulate such an issue," Khrekov
added.
"In connection with the foregoing, and considering that in that case
the Swedish courts have gone beyond their powers and committed a violation
of universally recognized principles of international law stipulating
sovereign equality of states, non-interference into their internal affairs
and honest fulfillment of international legal acts, we consider this
decision as illegitimate and not subject to execution," Khrekov said.
The spokesman actually reiterated the statement of the Russian foreign
ministry which also recognized the Swedish decision as illegitimate.
The Swedish charge d'affaires was summoned to the ministry on
Wednesday to be informed that "the Russian side does not recognize the
legitimacy of the given judgment of the Swedish Supreme Court as
contradicting international law," the ministry said.