Estonian Official Arrested, Suspected of Selling Classified Materials to Russia (13)

Published: 22.02.2012 16:21 | Updated: 22.02.2012 17:15

Aleksei Dressen was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly committing treason.
( Photo: ERR )

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A senior national security official, Aleksei Dressen, along with his wife Viktoria, were detained Wednesday morning at Tallinn Airport, and are under investigation for selling classified information to the Russian Federation's intelligence service, the FSB.

The couple was detained as Dressen's wife prepared to depart on a flight to Moscow.

Allegedly, Dressen was in possession of a storage device containing classified documents when he was arrested. The official's wife is suspected of acting as a courier.

According to the charges, Dressen, 43, has in recent years sold information to the FSB in return for monetary rewards.

Dressen has been working as an investigator for KAPO, Estonia's national security agency, since 1993.

In 2009, Herman Simm, who is serving a 12.5-year prison sentence for selling classified NATO information to Russia, became the only Estonian to be convicted of treason after restitution of independence.

The case that became public today has no relation to Simm, according to the Prosecutor's Office, although in late 1990s, Dressen served with Simm on a government committee supervising trade and transit of strategic goods, headed by then minister of foreign affairs, Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

The suspicion was unveiled at a joint press conference given by KAPO and the Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday.


Ott Tammik

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Comments (13)

  • Detective

    22.02.2012 17:29

    So wait...he works (worked, as of today) in KAPO? A real double-agent? Seems to be happening quite often in Estonia. Also, what is "restitution of independence"?

  • Restitution

    22.02.2012 19:26

    to restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner; the restoration of something to its original state. One might say, that the Estonian independence was stolen by the Soviet Union and their independence was a restoration to its original state.

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    22.02.2012 19:29

    It seems to me that KAPO is required to clear among its own ranks. Apparently, too many people there have uncontrollable access to classified data.

  • jaan2

    22.02.2012 20:11

    I was starting to despair with all these protests and scandals. Now this is more like it -- this is the Reform Party I voted for!!

  • Daan

    23.02.2012 01:36

    With all respect, but do they know in Estonia what KAPO is standing for? A kapo or prisoner functionary (German: Funktionshäftling) was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp who was assigned by the SS guards to supervise forced labor or carry out administrative tasks in the camp. Also called "prisoner self-administration", the prisoner functionary system minimized costs by allowing camps to function with fewer SS personnel. As EER doesn’t like references, just try Wikipedia… Maybe better chose a more “modern” name … for a secret service? Estinoan Internal Services? EIS ?… looked at Wiki, no bad connections. But after all, good luck with dealing for 20 years with Russian 007 agents… at least we know where to look for them in EU and where still “interesting” NATO – EU information for Russia is to be found … ( to be continued … )

  • avatar

    auslane

    23.02.2012 08:17

    There are two reasons this news story is important - the content, and that it appears to have brought Knut out of his self-imposed retirement.

  • Fons

    23.02.2012 09:00

    Jaan2, could you please explain what you mean?

  • Agent Smith

    23.02.2012 09:36

    What possible information could the Estonian government possess about itself that would be deemed so important as to be classified? Troop movements? The location of its helicopter? Unless it's some scandalous info, like who Savisaar had an affair with, or Laar's current medical condition (of which the public knows essentially nothing), or knowledge of high-level bribery that Russia will use as blackmail, I don't think this info is worth anything at all. Put the guy in jail for treason, sure...he did break the law. But declassify stuff. Make treason in Estonia impossible.

  • jaan2

    23.02.2012 09:49

    Hopefully Dressmann sold to the Russians the information that Estonia is home to thousands of crafty farmers with good rifles and civil defense networks and large tracts of impassable bogland.

  • @Agent Smith

    23.02.2012 10:46

    Did you actually bother to think before you wrote that tripe of yours? There are plenty of things that are of interest to the Russians: cyber defense secrets and capabilities, the names of agents, details of operations of KAPO itself in counter-intelligence, NATO info etc

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    23.02.2012 11:48

    @Auslane: I think when you say that I've "self-imposed retirement" the burden of proof is on you. @@Agent Smith: Russia is spying as any other State that runs a Secret Service (essentially any State), but that's not exactly an act of naked aggression. As long as it remains an Authoritarian State, however, Russia is not going to be our BFF (= Best Friend Forever). But it is not fated to be an enemy, unless we decide to make it one.

  • to Daan

    26.02.2012 18:34

    Are you mad? KaPo is Kaitsepolitseiamet! Adolf is too wery bad name. Who the hell know what is nazi KAPO?

  • Jüri Estam

    27.02.2012 19:13

    Why is the media insisting on calling a Russian spy an Estonian official? I could see it if we were writing of the mistake of putting a Russian spy in an Estonian post. Associated Press seemed to be the one that started with this business of "Estonian arrested" yada yada. Why does it take the Moscow Times to get it right? They lead with "FSB Spy Scandal Shakes Estonia".