Estonia to dispute Eston Kohver's psychiatric assessment
Estonian Vice-Chancellor of the Foreign Ministry Marina Kaljurand said in an interview with Kuku radio station that efforts to free abducted internal secret service agent Eston Kohver continue. Estonian authorities have also challenged the Russian decision to carry out a psychiatric assessment of Kohver.
Authorites in Moscow have previously stated that a psychiatric assessment is a usual court practice in Russia, but Kaljurand disputed this and said that Estonia will challenge this decision.
Kaljurand also confirmed that Estonian Consul in Moscow is allowed to meet Kohver, but the permission is granted rarely and the meetings are not in private – Russian translator and Russian secret service agents from the FSB are also present.
Kohver was in the line of duty and collecting information on cross-border corruption within the framework of an information collection plan in the vicinity of the Estonian-Russian border, when he was abducted on September 5 and taken to Moscow by Russian authorities.
Russia claimed that Kohver was arrested on its territory as a foreign agent. Estonian authorities have always insisted that Kohver's abduction violates international law.