Estonian police officer's case drags on due to investigator's busy schedule - defense

Photo: RTV.ru

The Russian investigator of the abducted Estonian police officer Eston Kohver's case could be busy with other headline cases in Moscow but this does not mean the Estonian officer's case has been forgotten, Kohver's Russia-appointed defense attorney said on Friday.

«I assume that in connection with the recent headline cases in Moscow the entire staff of the prosecutor's office is kept busy. It is the practice here to direct all efforts to achieving results and in this case the investigator could have been transferred to other cases. If he only handled the Kohver case things would move faster,» the lawyer, Yevgeny Aksyonov, told BNS.

He said he has not been invited to discuss the case with the investigator since the beginning of this year nor has he himself met with Kohver. «Experts continue studying the phone and the pistol seized from Kohver but my presence is not required, and Kohver will be acquainted with their reports when they are ready,» he said.

Under law the processing of the case should be completed within 18 months, that is, by the beginning of March 2016. «Eighteen months is the general time frame, but investigators can request extension of the deadline. But I don't think that will happen in Kohver's case,» Aksyonov said.

The Estonian Internal Security Service said on Sept. 5, 2014 that a member of its staff had been deprived of his freedom on Estonian territory near the checkpoint of Luhamaa on the Estonian-Russian border by unidentified individuals coming from Russia at 9 a.m. that morning. The official, 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.

The court of the Lefortovo region of Moscow has remanded Kohver in custody until April 5.