Moscow Court Sentences Estonian to 15 Years in Jail for Espionage

Estonia's Internal Security Service Officer was found guilty of espionage by a Moscow court on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Eston Kohver, an officer with Estonia's Internal Security Service, was on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years in jail by a Moscow court, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom.

Kohver was found guilty of espionage, smuggling, possession of weapons, as well as illegally crossing the state border. The prosecution asked for 16 years of imprisonment.

The Estonian officer was also fined in the amount of 100,000 rubles (some $1,500 at the current exchange rate).

According to the Estonian side, Kohver was kidnapped by unidentified persons in Estonia and taken at gunpoint across the country's border with Russia in September 2014.

On September 5, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Kohver had been detained in the Pskov Region in Russia with hidden recording devices, a Taurus pistol and 5,000 euro.

At the recent Kardla military parade, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Prime Minister Taavi Roivas wore yellow ribbons to indicate support for Kohver.