Australia’s top court has dismissed Russia’s request for an injunction that would have stopped the eviction of its embassy from a location in the capital, Canberra
From
ROD McGUIRK Associated Press
Jun 25, 2023 10:14pm ET
• 4 min reading
CANBERRA, Australia – Australia’s highest court on Monday dismissed Russia’s request for an injunction that would have stopped the eviction of its embassy from a location in the capital Canberra. A man who had occupied the block in a portable booth for more than a week left the block soon after in an apparent act of Russian defiance.
Supreme Court Justice Jayne Jagot called Russia’s objection to a lease termination law weak. “I don’t think (Russia’s) case is … a strong case. In fact, it’s difficult to identify a serious issue that needs to be looked at,” Jagot said.
Parliament passed an emergency law on June 15 ending Russia’s lease of the largely vacant building for security reasons, saying the new embassy would have been too close to the parliament building.
Government attorney Tim Begbie said Russia appeared to have sought the injunction to protect its own security and intelligence interests.
“It’s not just that they didn’t make any convincing arguments for invalidating the Constitution in that motion, they didn’t make any arguments for it at all,” Begbie said.
Russian lawyer Elliot Hyde had argued that Ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky would not have confidence in the integrity and security of a consular building already on the site if the embassy was not allowed to retain ownership until a decision on challenging the termination of the lease was made.
Hyde said a man who had lived at the site since at least last week was a security guard guarding the site. The man had been described in the media as a Russian diplomat.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision and expected the Russians to leave the compound.
“The court has clarified that at this time there is no legal basis for a Russian presence to continue at the site and we expect the Russian Federation to act in accordance with the court’s decision,” Albanese told reporters.
“Australia supports the law. “Russia hasn’t been very good at following the law lately,” Albanese added, referring to the invasion of Ukraine.
The security guard exited the fenced area after the decision and didn’t tell reporters as he exited the gate. He was carrying bags and was picked up by a car with diplomatic plates.
The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia had accused Australia of “russophobic hysteria” for terminating the lease on land in Canberra’s Diplomatic Quarter where Moscow planned to build a new embassy. The current Russian Embassy is located in the Canberra suburb of Griffith and its operations will not be affected.
Don Rothwell, an international law expert at the Australian National University, said an examination of the published list of accredited Russian diplomats in Australia found that there were only three male diplomats who could be the man guarding embassy grounds.
Given Hyde’s description of the squatter as a security guard, Rothwell doubted the man enjoyed diplomatic immunity that could have prevented Australian authorities from removing him from the site.
With him gone, police could avoid any further legal challenge by securing the compound and preventing any Russian diplomat from taking his place, Rothwell said.
Australian Federal Police last week refused to explain why the man had not been removed from the disputed site as an intruder.
The legal battle over the site marks a new low in strained relations between Russia and one of Ukraine’s most generous non-NATO supporters.
Albanese on Monday announced an additional A$110 million ($74 million) in aid to Ukraine, which includes 70 military vehicles and 28 M113 tracked armor. The aid also includes ammunition and AU$10 million (US$6.7 million) in humanitarian aid for shelter, health services, clean water and sanitation.
The new aid package brings Australia’s total aid to Ukraine to AU$790 million (US$528 million) since Russia’s invasion last year.
During the court hearing, Australia’s lawyer suggested that the Kremlin was distracted from the case by the short-lived insurgency of the Wagner Group’s mercenaries in Russia.
Tim Begbie said Hyde did not respond to a letter sent on Saturday in which the government tried to fend off the request for an injunction by offering not to damage the consular building or rent the site to someone else while the Russian lawsuit being heard in court.
“I’m not criticizing my educated friend for not replying to this letter,” Begbie said, referring to Hyde. “Russia had other things on its mind at the weekend.”