Embassy standoff: Kremlin launches ‘lawfare’ legal challenge

Russia has launched action in the High Court challenging laws that block the Putin regime’s planned embassy site in Canberra.

A portable security shed surrounded by weeds and discarded building materials is seen on a vacant land, which is a proposed new Russian embassy site in Canberra. Picture: AFP

Russia has launched legal action in the High Court against the Albanese government, challenging legislation rammed through the parliament to strip Vladimir Putin’s regime of its planned embassy site near Parliament House.

The opposition has called on the federal government to take action to evict a Russian diplomat who, The Australian revealed, has been illegally squatting on the Canberra site, sparking an unprecedented diplomatic standoff.

Lawyers representing the Russian Federation filed an injunction in the High Court on Friday afternoon arguing the legislation used to seize the embassy site was invalid because it wasn’t “supported by a head of power”, and the Constitution dictates the acquisition of property must be carried out on just terms.

Anthony Albanese said on Friday he was confident in the government’s legal position when asked if the government should declare the man persona non grata and deport him, arguing that the nation’s security was not threatened by “some bloke standing on a blade of grass”.

The Russian man, who cannot be arrested because he has diplomatic immunity, has been living in a shed on the Yarralumla block under the watch of the Australian Federal Police.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham called on the government to enforce the rule of law and expel the Russian diplomat, accusing the Prime Minister of treating the diplomatic stalemate as a “bit of a joke”.

Senator Birmingham said if the Kremlin ignores orders to vacate the land then “other steps can be considered” including cutting off access to power, water and food deliveries to the site before declaring him persona non grata if all other actions fail.

“You have the option to remove from Australia a diplomat who refuses to comply with lawful orders and lawful requests,” he said.

“They are some steps away, but the Albanese government did talk a big game when they were in opposition about expelling diplomats; now what we’re asking them to do is ensure they uphold the law of the land.”

Sydney University international law expert Tim Stephens said it would be an “extreme step” to declare the diplomat persona non grata, potentially leading to a tit for tat with Russia, including the expulsion of Australian diplomats from Moscow.

“I don’t think there’s any real legal issues surrounding the legislation, there’s certainly no international legal issue,” he said. “The government respects the diplomatic status of that mission and the status of the diplomats attached to it.

“But with this particular guy, I would guess the government is probably playing a bit of a wait and see game, as to whether or not it’s going to be sustained.”

Early on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry banned 48 Australian businesspeople, politicians and journalists from visiting Russia, in the latest sanctions imposed on those it blames for “creating the anti-Russian agenda”.

Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge said Moscow was likely motivated to launch legal action as part of a strategy of “lawfare” by deliberately stalling the government’s attempts to expel their man from the embassy site.

“The Russians could be challenging just for the sake of slowing things down,” he said.

“They have very little to lose except the money spent on the case. This is called lawfare where you use the legal system to tie up your opponent.”

Foreign policy expert Peter Jennings said Russia’s legal push was a stalling tactic to buy the foreign power enough time to remove spyware in diplomatic bags that is likely concealed on the premises.

“I would be very confident (the government) would have the authority that it needs to shut the site down and eventually to clear it and use it for other purposes,” he said.

A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said Russia’s legal challenge had been anticipated and was part of Moscow’s “playbook”.

Legislation to prevent any diplomatic presence on the site was rammed through both houses this month due to the risk the proximity to Parliament House could be exploited for spying purposes.

The standoff comes amid a ratcheting up of tensions between Canberra and Moscow after the ASIO announced earlier this year that it had expelled a ring of Russian spies posing as diplomats.

Additional reporting:
NCA Newswire