Mihkelson: Kohver will be free sooner rather than later
Chairman of the National Defense Committee Marko Mihkelson said the Estonian government must continue its efforts to free Eston Kohver, who was sentenced to 15 years for espionage in Russia. He said Kohver's release could come earlier than anyone can imagine.
“Internal Security Service official Kohver was abducted from Estonian territory and all charges against him are illegal from the beginning,” Mihkelson told ERR.
“I am confident Kohver will be freed earlier than we can currently conceive,” he said.
There are only a few possibilities for Kohver's early release, Mihkelson said, such as release before the sentence is up, a pardon or even an exchange, which, according to Mihkelson, has been the case in similar situations.
Enn Eesmaa, the deputy head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the first act in the Kohver saga has now been completed, adding that perhaps now Kohver can be exchanged for a Russian citizen held in a Western nation.
He said this will depend on Russia, and whether it is interested in any of its people in Western European prisons.
National Defense Committee deputy head Mart Helme said the court case is unprecedented and scandalous.
Editor: J.M. Laats