Kaljurand: No illusions over Kohver verdict
In an interview with Eesti Päevaleht, Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand said that no one is under the illusion that kidnapped Estonian security official Eston Kohver will be cleared by Russian authorities.
She told the daily that Kohver is likely to receive a long sentence, but that will not dispirit the foreign ministry. “From the moment Eston Kohver was abducted from Estonian territory, every step has been illegal. There is no point in talking about a trial.”
Kohver was abducted from the Estonian border next to Russia, a few days after US President Barrack Obama's visit to Estonia. Kohver was conducting an investigation into cross-border smuggling. He was held in Moscow for months until being transferred to Pskov, in western Russia, near the Estonian border.
Kohver, who works for the Estonian Internal Security Service, is charged with a number of crimes, such as carrying an illegal firearm and 5,000 euros in cash, illegally crossing the border and espionage. Russia has maintained that Kohver was on Russian soil at the time of the arrest. He is likely to face a 10-year sentence, if or when found guilty.
Editor: J.M. Laats