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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 06:22

Kohver is still in Lefortovo prison

BC, Tallinn, 25.09.2015.Print version

The Estonian Foreign Ministry confirmed that yesterday's information about the location of Estonian Security Police official Eston Kohver was not true and according to the Russian Prisons Board, he is in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, LETA/Postimees Online reports.

 

On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry announced that after repeated appeals to the Russian authorities, the Estonian Embassy in Moscow received Tuesday evening a letter of the Russian Prisons Board, dated September 11, according to which Estonian Security Police official Eston Kohver is being held in the Butyrka prison in Moscow.

 

Wednesday evening, spokesman for the Ministry told Postimees that it was a human mistake: the Prisons Board letter, which was referred to, did not contain the name of the prison, but its code and the codes of the two prisons were similar. "We can confirm that Lefortovo code was written there. We can issue confirmation about the location of Eston Kohver after the consul has met with him," he said and added that the application has been filed and, hopefully, the meeting will take place in the coming days.

 

Estonian Security Police official Eston Kohver was abducted at gunpoint by Russian special services on 5 September last year near the Russian border in Estonia while fulfilling his official duties, and was led across the border to Russia. Kohver was detained in Lefortovo prison in Moscow but was brought to Pskov at the beginning of June to stand trial, being accused of espionage, illegal border crossing, possessing a weapon and smuggling of a weapon. Pskov Oblast Court convicted him on 19 August and set his punishment at 15 years of prison. Around two weeks ago, a Russian information service reported that Kohver had been taken away from Pskov. No official information was issued by the Russian side on his whereabouts though.





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