Anvelt: Kohver kept close to central powers
Former criminal police chief and government minister Andres Anvelt (SDE) said abducted Estonian official Eston Kohver is being held in Moscow to keep him close to Russian central powers.
Anvelt said Russia will attempt to gather more information from Kohver, who was kidnapped from Estonian soil more than a year ago, and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment at the end of August, this year.
Kohver was sentenced by a court in Pskov, in the west of Russia, and is likely to be sent to a prison camp, but is currently at the Lefortovo prison in Moscow. “This shows interest against him has not waned. I do not believe Russia just wants to give him back, there is always a wish, in the spy world, to look for beneficial prisoner swaps. Only time will tell,” he said.
Anvelt said Estonia must carry on using all possibilities to get Kohver released.
For a few weeks at the beginning of the month, the whereabouts of Kohver was unknown to Estonian officials. On Wednesday it was reported that he is Butyrka prison, a transit prison where many top-level Baltic leaders were held during World War II. Estonian officials then said Kohver is actually back at Lefotrovo, where he spent the majority of the past 12 months.
Editor: J.M. Laats