Citat:
The court in Russia's northwest Pskov region, which borders Estonia, sentenced Eston Kohver on August 19 to 15 years in prison on charges of spying, smuggling, possession of weapons, and illegal crossing of the state border. He was also fined 100,000 rubles ($1,523).
The court ruled that Kohver must serve his sentence at a strict security penitentiary in Russia.
The European Union immediately protested the verdict and called on Moscow to release Kohver and guarantee his safe return to Estonia.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on August 19 that Kohver's "abduction and subsequent illegal detention in Russia constitute a clear violation of international law." She also said Kohver had been deprived of the right to a fair trial because it was held behind closed doors, the Estonian consul was not allowed to be present, and "Kohver was deprived of adequate legal aid."
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Moscow claims that Kohver, an officer of Estonia's internal security service, was seized inside Russian territory on September 5 carrying cash, weapons, and recording devices while on an undercover operation.
But Tallinn says Russian agents seized Kohver at gunpoint on Estonian territory and that footprints and other markings on the ground proved he was ambushed and forcibly dragged across the border in a well-planned kidnapping operation that included the use of stun grenades.
A bilingual protocol apparently signed by both Russian and Estonian border officials who inspected the scene hours after the incident appeared to corroborate that view. It said the footprints indicated a group of individuals entered Estonia from Russia and then returned there, and it noted impact craters from stun grenades.
