Former Estonian official convicted of treason

International Herald Tribune

Michael Schwirtz

February 26, 2009

MOSCOW: An Estonian court convicted a former high-ranking security official of treason on Wednesday for passing on sensitive information from the Estonian government and NATO to Russia, in a case that has heightened fears of a continued security threat by Russian intelligence networks in Europe.

Herman Simm, the former head of the National Security Authority, was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison "for passing secret state and foreign state information," said Gerrit Maeselu, a spokesman for the Estonian prosecutor's office.

"We think that he started working for Russian intelligence in 1995," Maeselu said in a telephone interview, adding that Simm was in a position to hand over intelligence on NATO starting in 2001, when Estonia began accession talks with the alliance in earnest. Estonia joined NATO in 2004.

The Harju County Court also ordered Simm, 61, to pay about $1.6 million to cover damage done to "security systems and date systems," which must now be overhauled, Maeselu said. It was unclear whether Simm would appeal the verdict.

The extent of the damage to NATO remains unclear, but the case has raised questions about the alliance's plans to expand farther east into former Communist bloc countries, which may not be protected from infiltration by Russian intelligence networks. Russia has increasingly sought to challenge what it sees as meddling by NATO countries, particularly the United States, in what it considers its sphere of influence.

Prosecutors say Simm delivered intelligence to two handlers from Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, whom they identified as Valery Zentsov and Sergei Yakovlev. The Kremlin has denied working with Simm and accusations that it has stepped up spying activities in Europe.

A graduate of a Soviet police academy in Moscow, Simm served a short period as chief of the Estonian police after the fall of the Soviet Union before moving to the Ministry of Defense. There, he was responsible for securing classified communications between Estonia and its allies. He was arrested last September.