Among the most peculiar cases heard at the Palace of Justice is that of a mysterious 60 year-old Russian man and his letter for the Prince.
On December 11, at approximately 8:30 in the morning, the man in question arrived at the reception desk of the Sûreté Publique and declared that he had broken the mirrors of two police vehicles parked in front of the building in order to draw the attention of the Monegasque authorities, so that he could deliver a letter to HSH Prince Albert.
The letter was composed of three pages, each containing handwritten words in the Cyrillic alphabet. Unsurprisingly, the authorities quickly placed the man into police custody, before taking him to the Princess Grace Hospital for a psychiatric examination.
The check-up suggested that the individual was without mental illnesses, and could therefore be questioned and sentenced. The defendant admitted that he came to Monaco from Florence “with the desire to alert the Sovereign Albert II to the situation of Russian diplomats and denounce their deplorable behaviour since 1992 within Europe.”
At the end of an intriguing court hearing, the court followed public prosecutor Cyrielle Colle’s suggestion, and imposed a fine of 500 euros on the defendant.
