A miscalculation by Security Police? Sending a veteran officer for a special operation on the physical Estonia-Russia border, a man highly esteemed among colleagues, considered a pillar in the organisation? An officer carrying too much sensitive data for a possible Russian counterattack and grab? An official for years under heightened Russian scrutiny?
That Thursday night, the section of the border chosen for special operations was watched by the Security Police (KAPO), not Police and Border Guard Board – as usual. With special operations, this is rather the usual. The daily border guard technology was off, intentionally, for the purpose of the operation to succeed.
KAPO officer Eston Kohver was scheduled for a meeting on the Estonian territory to collect information regarding cross-border customs and border corruption. That’s also quite the usual in his work, and risks come with the territory.
Earlier, for instance, Mr Kohver has officially met an FSB employee on the border; back then, the meeting was about the smuggling of explosives and arms. Thus, the man was known to the opposite party, and that was naturally known to KAPO. When sending him for the job, however, they supposed the Eastern neighbour would keep the unwritten rules: people are not apprehended on the border, they are not kidnapped.
Friday morning at 9 am, the two armed security police officers on location to secure Mr Kohver were unable to protect and assist him, being shocked and blinded by the smoke grenade the Russian FSB men detonated. As the smoke started to clear, the opponents were already across the border line. For KAPO staff, however, it is off limits to cross the line.
Russia goes for full pot
For the initiated cabinet ministers and leaders in our powers structures, the incident is increasingly worrying – and rightfully so. Needing to focus on bringing Mr Kohver back, it looks harder by the hour. The Russian side continues to deny Mr Kohver the opportunity to communicate with the Estonian consul, and the agreed three day delay-time was exhausted yesterday, at 2 pm Moscow time.
The four hours long meeting between Estonian and Russian Border Guard representatives, in Luhamaa yesterday, was also in vain. Namely, the delegations of border representatives from the two sides no longer agreed with details of the minutes taken by assistant border representative at 1.40 pm on Friday, and – quite as expected – there was no result.
Mr Kohver may be faced with accusations in espionage and illegal border crossing. The first one serves to show that, in this incident, Russia is going for the full pot, so to say: for espionage, the punishment stands at 10–20 years, illegal crossing jails you for three, maximum.
The first harsh accusation is probably based on the Russians’ logic that as the other country’s official sees the situation as hopeless and his homeland cannot provide swift help, it may be bargaining time. At the moment, this is all purely theoretical and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, and security chiefs all stressed they were concentrated on getting Mr Kohver to Estonia quick.
«Sooner or later the meeting with the consul will happen. This is required by international law and Russia cannot keep indefinitely ignoring that. The Russian side is playing for time, delaying it. I do not understand why they are doing that,» said KAPO director-general Arnold Sinisalu, at joint press conference with Police and Border Guard Board head Elmar Vaher. «But... they are in the power position here, and power trumps justice.»
Estonia has been in official contact regarding the incident with the corresponding official at FSB, to whom our explanations have been forwarded.
«We assured him that Eston Kohver is not into counterintelligence operations, to say nothing about intelligence, not being authorised for that by Internal Security Service,» said Mr Sinisalu. The FSB official was explained the goal of activities by Mr Kohver, he was told we were interested in getting him back. With that, the contact was over.
In health, so far
Yesterday, Prime Minister Mr Rõivas called both Mr Sinisalu and Mr Vaher into Stenbock house, to provide him and foreign, defence, interior and finance ministers an overview of what happened Friday Morning on the Estonia-Russia border. Based on the materials presented, the key ministers were convinced Mr Kohver was apprehended by force on Estonian territory and taken to Russia.
The ministers witnessed in the documents formalised by assistant border representatives after a survey of the site, signed by both parties, that there had been a cross-border traffic of people from Russia into Estonia and back to Russia. Also, the ministers were shown video recordings of the survey of the site and other materials in the criminal case – also confirming the capture of the police officer by force begun on Estonian territory, in immediate vicinity of the border.
Whether these documents would ever become public, Mr Sinisalu and Mr Vaher were unable to tell as this is evidence in a criminal case. «We are not interested in further intensifying the tensions. We do not consider it possible to disclose everything, we must assess what is most beneficial for Mr Kohver,» said Mr Vaher, calling for public understanding as «this is a very complicated incident».
As assured by Mr Vaher, security of the borders is guaranteed for all, and the Friday incident has nothing at all to do with the overall guarding of the border line. «In this section of the border we created a window for Security Police so they could carry out their operation which was for the sole purpose of national security. It had to do with preventing a criminal offence and a Security Police operation,» he explained.
Yesterday morning, Estonian embassy in Moscow was contacted by the criminal defence counsel appointed to Mr Kohver by the Russian Federation. The counsel presented the situation, said the man has passed a medical examination and is not complaining over his health.
In its turn, Security Police has forwarded the Estonian ambassador in Moscow Jüri Luik a list of lawyers whom Estonian state would like to use in defence of Mr Kohver. The ambassador will enter negotiations with the counsels – not necessarily an easy task as not everybody wants to deal with Russia.
The representatives of Estonian and Russian border guards, after their unfruitful meeting yesterday, are scheduled to see each other again tomorrow.