An Estonian anti-smuggling border policeman has been jailed for 15 years in Russia, amid an international outcry, for spying.
As well as the prison term, a court in the western city of Pskov, about about 20km from the border with Estonia, ordered Eston Kohver, 44, to pay a fine of 100,000 roubles (£970).
Speaking to The Independent, Estonian officials repeated claims that Mr Kohver, whose job was to prevent smuggling allegedly involving Russian officials, was abducted from within Estonia last year.
Eston Kohver behind bars in Pskov, Russia (AP)
He was in a wooded area near the Luhamaa border checkpoint on 5 September when Russian security services used smoke grenades to disguise the abduction, an Estonian official said. “The incident took place rapidly and was obviously carried out by professionals,” the official added. “It did not occur in a populated area, in front of witnesses, nor was there an opportunity to record the incident itself.”
It is claimed that Russia, which has been increasingly distant from Estonia after Vladimir Putin’s support for pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, had previously agreed that Mr Kohver had indeed been in Estonia when seized.
“However, Russia has since changed its position to best suit the overall Russian narrative that Kohver was on Russian territory,” said the official. “This is simply not true.”
Moscow insists that Mr Kohver was engaged in a “spying operation” on Russian territory.
In 2004, Estonia joined Nato and the EU. Both bodies accuse Russia of directly helping separatists in eastern Ukraine with regular troops and heavy weapons. Russia denies this.
The EU’s High Representative, Federica Mogherini, condemned the detention of Mr Kohver as “a clear violation of international law”.
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The EU also claims that there was no public hearing of the case, that Estonian government representatives were not allowed to attend and that Mr Kohver was denied adequate legal aid.
Tanya Lokshina, of Human Rights Watch, said: “When a trial is happening behind closed doors, there are always grounds to believe that some violation of free and fair justice could be in place.”
The Estonian Prime Minister, Taavi Roivas, demanded Mr Kohver’s immediate release. “The staged court case that formed a verdict suitable for the Russian authorities has nothing to do with a fair trial,” he said in a statement.
Russia’s FSB security service, the successor to the KGB, claims the security official was found on the Russian side of the border carrying a US-made Taurus handgun and ammunition, and special equipment for concealed audio recording.
