Rõivas: Statements From Captured Estonian Official's Defender Should Be Taken With Pinch of Salt
Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas has urged caution regarding the signals sent by the Russian Federation-appointed lawyer for captured Estonian counterintelligence officer Eston Kohver.
He was responding to an interview conducted by an Estonian daily with Yevgeni Aksyonov, in which the lawyer attributed various statements to Estonian government agencies and alluded to as-yet-unseen evidence.
Speaking at the weekly Cabinet press conference today, Rõivas said Estonia was doing everything its power to resolve the case, which started on September 5 when the Estonian official appeared to have been abducted by Russian federal secret service agents on the Estonian side of the border.
"We clearly realize there is no independent judiciary in this case, nor is this a lawyer who would represent his client the way we are used to in a country governed by the rule of law," Rõivas said.
"I'd call for everything said by Russia on this topic to be taken with a certain coefficient. There are various interests behind it, and we are smart enough to understand what the interests are. I advise al words to be taken with certain reservations," said the prime minister.
Aksyonov said that Russia could free Kohver on bail if certain conditions are met. He also claimed the FSB had video evidence that Kohver was in Russia when he was captured. And he linked Kohver's case to the two former KGB officers posing as fishermen in Narva, who were arrested in Estonia later in September after they resisted border guards.