Estonia fury as Russia charges ‘abducted’ policeman with spying

MOSCOW, Russia – An Estonian policeman detained by Russian security services has been charged with espionage and faces up to two decades in prison in a case that has infuriated Tallinn.

“Eston Kohver was charged on September 8 with espionage,” his lawyer Nikolai Polozov told Agence France-Presse.

He said that Kohver is being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which is used by the security services. “He faces up to 20 years in prison,” Polozov said.

In a rare public statement, Russia’s FSB security service announced last week it had detained Kohver as he attempted to carry out intelligence gathering in northwestern Russia close to the Estonian border.

Tallinn gave a different account, accusing Moscow of abducting its national at gunpoint from Estonian territory as he was investigating cross-border crime.

Polozov told Agence France-Presse that the defense team would be pleading that the charges against Kohver were unlawful because he was abducted.

The FSB claimed Kohver was carrying covert recording equipment and what appeared to be assignments for an intelligence mission, as well as 5,000 euros ($6,500). Russia state television aired FSB footage of the evidence.

Kohver was also shown on national television being led into a Moscow district court by security operatives in black masks.

Kohver’s arrest came just two days after US President Barack Obama visited Tallinn to calm the nerves of the US’s Baltic allies, as tension with Russia rise because of its role in the Ukraine crisis. – Rappler.com