The microscopic state - Silandiya (Sealand)

Physically, the territory of Sealand originated during the Second World War. In 1942 the British Navy built on the approaches to the coast a series of platforms.
Location: abandoned the fort from World War II under the name Fort Rufs. It is located six miles off the coast of Suffolk in the UK. Habitable area is shown in the picture above, but there Silandii territorial waters - within 12 miles around the fort.

Population: 107 people.

Official website: http://www. sealandgov. org.

One of them was Rafs Tower (Roughs Tower, word for word. ... During the war it housed anti-aircraft guns and was a garrison of 200 men. After the end of hostilities, most towers were destroyed, but Rafs Tower, being outside British territorial waters, has remained intact. In 1966, a retired British army major Paddy Roy Bates chose this place for basing his pirate radio station «Britain's Better Music Station». In order to avoid prosecution by the British authorities, Bates declared the platform a sovereign state and proclaimed himself Prince (prince) I Roy. Proclamation of Sealand was September 2, 1967. This day is celebrated as the main national holiday.




In 1968, British authorities attempted to occupy the new state. To patrol boats approached the platform, and the prince's family responded with warning shots into the air. Before the bloodshed is not reached, but against the Prince Roy as a British citizen was initiated litigation. September 2, 1968 the judge handed down a historic decision of Essex, he acknowledged that it is outside the jurisdiction of the British.

In 1972, Sealand began to coin money. In 1975 came into force on the first constitution of Sealand. There the flag and coat of arms.

In August 1978 there was a coup in the country. It was preceded by the emergence of tensions between the prince and his close ally, Prime Minister Count Gottfried Alexander Achenbach (Alexander Gottfried Achenbach). The parties differed in their views on the attraction of foreign investments into the country and accused each other of unconstitutional intent. Taking advantage of the absence of the prince, who was in talks with Austrian investors, Achenbach with a group of Dutch citizens landed on the island. The invaders locked up the young Prince Michael in the basement, and then took him to the Netherlands. But Michael had escaped from captivity and met with his father. With the support of loyal citizens of the country's deposed monarchs managed to defeat armies and usurpers to return to power.
The government acted in strict accordance with international law. Captured foreign mercenaries were soon released, as the Geneva Convention on the Rights of Prisoners of War requires the release of prisoners after the war. Organizer of the coup was removed from all posts and tried for treason under the laws of silendskimi, but he had a second - German - citizenship, so it is interested in the fate of the authorities of Germany. The British Foreign Ministry refused to intervene in this matter, and German diplomats had to negotiate directly with the Sealand. The island came to a senior legal adviser German Embassy in London, Dr. Nimyuller. Prince Roy demanded diplomatic recognition of Sealand, but in the end, given the nature of a bloodless coup failed, agreed to a verbal assurances and generously let Achenbach.



Sealand September 30, 1987 announced the expansion of its territorial waters from 3 to 12 miles. The next day a similar statement was made by Great Britain. Thus, in accordance with international standards, the sea area between the two countries should be divided equally. The absence of a bilateral agreement governing the issue, the cause of security incidents. In 1990 Sealand fired warning bursts of the British ship, coming up to his unauthorized bank.
The name of Sealand without the knowledge of the government was drawn into a vast criminal fraud. In 1997, in view of Interpol has got an international syndicate of branched, who established a trade in fake passports silendskimi (he never traded Sealand passports and did not grant political asylum ). More than 150 thousand. false passports (including diplomatic ), as well as driver's licenses, university diplomas and other forged documents were sold to the citizens of Hong Kong (at the time of transmission under the control of China ) and Eastern Europe. In several European countries were registered attempts to open bank accounts and even the acquisition of weapons of silendskim passports. Headquartered intruders were in Germany, the scope of activities covered Spain, Britain, France, Slovenia, Romania and Russia. ... In the U.S., discovered the connection between this case with the murder of Gianni Versace (killer committed suicide on the boat, whose owner was a fake diplomatic passport silendsky ). The Government of Sealand has had full assistance to the investigation and after this tragic event canceled passport.

In 2000 the company posted in Sealand HavenCo your host, instead the government has undertaken to guarantee the inviolability of freedom of information legislation (in relation to the Internet in Sealand allowed everything except spam, hacker attacks and child pornography). HavenCo hopes that the location of the sovereign territory would save her from the restrictions of the British Internet legislation.



The situation compares favorably with Sealand of other artificial states. The Principality has a physical territory, and has some of the legal bases for international recognition. The requirement of independence is based on three arguments. The most fundamental of these is the fact that Sealand was founded in the neutral waters before the entry into force of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, which prohibits the construction of artificial structures on the high seas, and to expand the UK sovereign maritime zone from 3 to 12 miles in 1987. Based on the fact that Rafs Tower was abandoned and removed from the lists of the British Admiralty, his occupation in 1966. regarded as the colonization. It settled on the settlers had every right to establish a state and to establish a form of government, at its discretion. Sealand fulfills all the criteria for statehood set out in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. According to international standards, the size of the state can not be an obstacle to the recognition. For example, a recognized British possession of Pitcairn has only about 60 people.
A second important argument is the decision of the British ships of 1968. lack of jurisdiction over Sealand UK. No other country has also announced its rights to Sealand.


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