Baltic States – CIS, Estonia, Russia

"I have an Estonian visa and I intend to apply for political asylum in Estonia. I believe I will officially make the request to the Estonian government today or tomorrow," Alexander Glazastikov said on the Russian independent television channel Dozhd on Thursday.

According to Galazastikov he decided to give up anonymity after he heard that other members of the group of hackers had been detained by Russian authorities.

"The media reported at the end of January that the other two members of our project were caught by the Russian security service FSB and they were being detained in Lefortovo prison. After that I was convinced that FSB has also my information and there is no point in trying to hide myself. It is better to announce myself and do it sooner than wait until it is done by the media, who we might have hurt with our actions," Glazastikov said.

Although Shaltai-Boltai is considered to be a group of hackers, it was initially launched as a public relations project, he said.

"The organization was created with a political aim. The initial task of the project was to disclose some secrets which the public does not know and suspect," Glazastikov said.

Shaltai-Boltai hackers have been stealing and publishing the correspondence of Russian top officials, companies and media. High officials of FSB have also been detained in connection with the case.

Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser said on Tuesday after it became known that a member of Shaltai-Boltai was in Estonia that Estonian authorities are to conduct the proceeding of the person's asylum request as usual and it will also be checked that the person does not pose a threat to the country's security.

A spokesperson for the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) told BNS on Tuesday that an asylum application proceeding is not public information, therefore the PPA cannot comment on it. She added that whether asylum is granted is the decision of PPA, not the government.