International praise for Simm's case

Mar 02, 2009
TBT staff in cooperation with BNS

Herman Simm was the first high profile case of treason since the restoration of independence.

"The way in which Estonia put Mr Simm openly on trial is striking," the magazine reported, adding that in other countries those caught spying for Russia tend to be eased out discreetly rather than being brought to justice publicly.

According to sources, Valery Zentsov, an officer of Russia's foreign intelligence service SVR, recruited Simm on his holiday in Tunisia in 1995.

Simm was neither blackmailed nor bribed in the beginning. The offer was the reinstatement of his Soviet-era rank of colonel.

Simm came under scrutiny after his Russian handler, Sergei Yakovlev who used a Portuguese identity, tried to recruit a senior official in another country who reported it to his own counter-intelligence. Under surveillance, Yakovlev was seen meeting Simm.

"That set alarm bells clanging across NATO," The Economist says.

The difficulty was to observe Simm closely enough to build a criminal case without sparking his suspicion. Estonia's security service is getting much praise for this, which culminated in Simm's arrest last September.

Earlier allegations pointed to possible accomplices in other Estonian institutions. However, security police have not found any evidence to support these claims.

"Let us stress -- all claims to this effect are without any grounds whatsoever and speculative in nature," security police spokesman Andres Kahar said.

It was revealed during the investigation that Herman Simm forwarded to the Russian foreign intelligence service background information on several Estonian citizens and state officials, but nobody was recruited nor any attempts made to recruit anyone on the basis of that information, the spokesman said.

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