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Russia jails Estonian police officer allegedly abducted on border Russia jails Estonian intelligence officer Tallinn says was abducted over border
(about 5 hours later)
An Estonian police officer allegedly abducted by Russia in a cross-border raid was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday, further stoking tensions between Moscow and the former Soviet republic. A Russian court has sentenced an Estonian intelligence officer to 15 years in prison in a case that western officials have called a gross violation of international law. A court in Russia’s Pskov region, which borders Estonia, convicted Eston Kohver during a closed-doors hearing on charges of spying, possession of weapons and illegally crossing the border.
Russia arrested Eston Kohver on espionage charges last September, saying the Estonian was caught on Russian territory, but Tallinn maintains he was taken at gunpoint at a border crossing. Estonian officials say Kohver was abducted on Estonian territory during an audacious cross-border raid by Russia’s FSB security service involving radio-jamming equipment and smoke grenades. “The abduction of Eston Kohver from the territory of the Republic of Estonia by the FSB on 5 September and his unlawful detainment in Russia thereafter constitute a blatant breach of international law,” the Estonian foreign minister, Marina Kaljurand, said in a statement.
The sentence will put further strain on already frayed relations between the two countries, which have deteriorated since Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year. Related: Estonia says official seized by Russia was lured into FSB trap
“I strongly condemn verdict on Eston Kohver; his illegal detention constitutes a grave violation of international law by the Russian Federation,” the Estonian prime minister, Taavi Rõivas, tweeted. Russian prosecutors insist Kohver was detained on Russian territory while carrying out an undercover mission. Estonia says Kohver was investigating a Russian smuggling ring when he was abducted. Kohver was seized on 5 September last year and since then has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison.
The European Union said Kohver’s detention was illegal and called for his immediate release. The arrest came just two days after Barack Obama visited the Estonian capital, Tallinn, in a move designed to show solidarity with the Baltic states. Nato member Estonia has a large ethnic-Russian population, and is jittery after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in east Ukraine.
“Mr Kohver has been deprived of the right to a fair trial. There was no public hearing of the case,” EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said. Kohver was represented by a court-appointed lawyer and the Estonian consul was not allowed to attend the hearings.
Kohver will serve his sentence in a Russian hard labour camp and be fined 100,000 roubles (£970), the Interfax news agency quoted his lawyer as saying outside the Pskov regional court, where Estonian and EU diplomats gathered to protest against the conviction. The European Union’s top foreign policy official, Federica Mogherini, said Russia’s actions were “a clear violation of international law”. “Despite repeated requests, the Russian authorities have failed to resolve the issue. The EU continues to call on the Russian Federation to act according to its international obligations, release Mr Kohver immediately and guarantee his safe return to Estonia,” said Mogherini.
“Together with our allies and partners, we intend to keep up international pressure until Eston Kohver is released and has returned home to his family,” the Estonian foreign minister, Marina Kaljurand, said in a statement. The UK’s minister for Europe, David Lidington, said he was “deeply concerned” by the sentence. “I have repeatedly raised my concerns about the handling of Mr Kohver’s case and called for his release during my meetings with the Russian ambassador to London,” he said in a statement released by the Foreign Office. “I urge Russia to release Mr Kohver immediately, and guarantee his safe return to Estonia.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Kohver was detained carrying a Taurus handgun with ammunition, €5,000 (£3,500) in cash, special equipment for concealed audio recording and documents that “bear evidence of an intelligence mission”. Masha Lipman, an independent Russian political analyst, told AFP that Kohver’s lengthy sentence was a sign of Moscow’s deteriorating ties with Europe. “The relationship with Europe has already hit its lowest level in the post-Soviet period,” Lipman said. “This move exacerbates the confrontation between Russia and the EU.”
Tallinn said he was taken trying to stop illegal activity on the border when unidentified abductors jammed radio communications and used smoke grenades. In a Facebook post, the Estonian president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, called on his compatriots to wear yellow ribbons in support of Kohver.
In recent years, the border has seen a number of incidents involving the smuggling of goods, weapons and migrants.
Estonia and other former Soviet republics in the Baltics, which now belong to both the EU and Nato, have urged both organisations to take a tough stance towards Russia over its actions in Ukraine, where the west says Moscow is sending troops across the border to support separatist rebels.
Moscow has repeatedly denied these accusations.