COPENHAGEN: Russia’s ambassador to Denmark on Wednesday made light of Swedish concerns over a Russian military jet’s alleged near-miss with a passenger plane, suggesting Swedish authorities may have smoked too much cannabis.

“The Swedish authorities also recently said there was a submarine in their waters. There wasn’t,” Mikhail Vanin, Russia’s ambassador in Copenhagen, told the Berlingske daily.

“Now they say again that they have seen something. I’m afraid the Swedes visit Pusher Street very often,” he said, referring to the Christiania neighborhood in Copenhagen known for its cannabis trade.

Swedish military said that a Russian military jet on Friday nearly collided with a commercial passenger plane south of the Swedish city of Malmoe, shortly after taking off from Copenhagen International Airport.

Swedish and Danish fighter jets were scrambled in response to the Russian plane which came dangerously close to the passenger jet at less than nine kilometers, according to the Swedish military. Russia replied that their plane was “more than 70 kilometers” away.

The incident happened amid growing concern in the Baltic region over signs of more assertive Russian behavior, including Russian planes regularly skirting or violating the air space of neighboring countries.

Sweden and Denmark summoned Russia’s ambassadors on Monday to protest the incident.

The Russian ambassador admitted Russian planes were patrolling the area more frequently than they used to, but said that was probably “a response to NATO’s activities and escalation in the region.”

“I’m sure that if NATO reduces its activities in the region, we will do the same. Do not provoke the Russian bear,” Vanin said. Sweden’s claims were part of “a very well orchestrated campaign” to portray Russia as “a very dangerous neighbor,” he said.

“But it’s a very dangerous path that Swedish and some Danish campaigners have embarked on,” he added.

Sweden, which is not a member of NATO, has said there is evidence that a mini submarine entered its waters in October, but that it hasn’t been possible to confirm the vessel’s nationality.





In September, Stockholm lodged a protest with Moscow after the incursion of two Russian fighter planes into the Nordic country’s airspace.The courts system is notoriously slow, with cases frequently dragging on for years, and there is a heavy reliance on witness testimony and very little protection for judges and prosecutors.

This means terror cases are hard to prosecute, as extremists are able to intimidate witnesses and lawyers into dropping charges.

Even when militants are locked up, they are often either freed soon afterwards on bail or able to continue their activities from behind bars.

Earlier this year a British man in jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi for blasphemy was shot by a prison guard radicalised by an extremist prisoner.

In September a judge ordered a prisoner to be hanged over a murder committed in 1996, but the sentence has not yet been carried out. In June last year Sharif’s newly elected government scrapped the moratorium in a bid to crack down on criminals and Islamist militants.

But two weeks later it announced a further stay of executions after an outcry from rights groups and the then-president Asif Ali Zardari.

European Union officials indicated last year that if Pakistan resumed executions, it could jeopardise a highly prized trade deal with the bloc.

An EU rights delegation warned it would be seen as a “major setback” if Pakistan restarted hangings.

“Terrorism” has a very broad definition under Pakistani law. About 17,000 cases of “terrorism” are pending in special courts.

Justice Project Pakistan released a report on Wednesday saying that those convicted of terrorism were often tortured into confessions or denied lawyers, and that recent crackdowns had not stopped militant attacks.

“Swathes of defendants whose crimes bear no relation to terrorism have been sentenced to death following extremely unfair trials, whilst terrorist attacks continue unabated,” the group said.