A court in the northwestern Russian regional capital Pskov on Friday extended custody for Eston Kohver, staffer of the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) held in Russia on charges of espionage, possession and smuggling of a firearm, for two more months starting Aug. 8.
Previously the Pskov regional court on June 8 extended the detention of Kohver by four days, from Aug. 4 to Aug. 8.
However, the court on Friday did not set out the new starting date of the trial.
Kohver's Russia-appointed defense lawyer, Yevgeny Aksyonov, told BNS the trial will start apparently after July 23.
The Russian court that originally opened hearings in the Kohver case at the beginning of June found shortcomings in the materials and returned the case to the prosecutor general's office in Moscow to eliminate the violations which in the judge's words hinder substantive handling of the case. The case was allegedly returned to Moscow because one of the thousands of pages in the file was missing.
The Estonian security official has been charged with espionage, possession and smuggling of a firearm, and nine counts of illegal border crossing.
The ISS said on Sept. 5, 2014 that a member of their staff had been deprived of his freedom on Estonian territory near the checkpoint of Luhamaa on the Estonian-Russian border and taken to Russia by unidentified individuals coming from Russia at 9 a.m. that morning. The security agent, who was performing official duties related to the prevention of cross-border crime, was taken to Russia at gunpoint using physical force. The abduction was preceded by interference of operational radio communication and use of a smoke grenade from the direction of Russia.
Kohver was held in the Lefortovo prison of Moscow until his transfer to Pskov for the trial.