TALLINN - Former senior public servant Herman Simm, 61, has been found guilty of treason and passing on classified information. He was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison.
The case was heard at a closed session on Feb. 25 under a compromise procedure.
The high-profile case has led to a range of reactions internationally, with some praising the country's handling of the affair and some wondering how many spies could still be active in the Baltics.
The Economist praised Estonia for its transparency in the Simm case and for the quick trial period.
"The way in which Estonia put Mr. Simm openly on trial is striking," the magazine reported. It noted that officials from other countries that have been caught spying for Russia are generally eased out discreetly rather than brought to justice publicly.
According to sources, Valery Zentsov, an officer of Russia's foreign intelligence service SVR, recruited Simm while the Estonian was on holiday in Tunisia in 1995.
Simm was neither blackmailed nor bribed in the beginning. The offer was to reinstate 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 the incident to his own counter-intelligence force. Under surveillance, Yakovlev was seen meeting Simm.
"That set alarm bells clanging across NATO," The Economist wrote.
The difficulty was to observe Simm closely enough to build a criminal case without sparking his suspicion. The surveillance action culminated in Simm's arrest in September 2008.
Earlier allegations pointed to possible accomplices in other Estonian institutions, but security police have not found any evidence to support these claims.
"Let us stress that all claims to this effect are without any grounds whatsoever and are speculative in nature," security police spokesman Andres Kahar said.
It was revealed during the investigation that Herman Simm forwarded background information on several Estonian citizens and state officials to the Russian foreign intelligence service. Nobody was recruited nor any attempts made to recruit anyone on the basis of that information, the spokesman said.
Sven Sillar, the defense lawyer of Heete Simm, 54, Herman Simm's wife, a suspected accomplice of treason, told the Baltic News Service that the public prosecutor's office had made no proposal to her concerning an agreement or had informed her of her case being closed.
On Sept. 21, 2008, the Harju County Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Herman Simm at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The former head of the security department at the Defense Ministry was accused of of spying for Russia.
His wife Heete Simm, lawyer at the Police Board, was also issued a warrant and was suspected of being an accomplice to treason.
Until November 2006 Herman Simm worked as head of the security department at the Defense Ministry 's where he held access to classified information of the state 's and it was his duty to sign agreements on the protection of classified information with Estonia's partner countries.
After five years of service as head of the security department at the Defense Ministry, Simm became and adviser to the ministry 's a position that he held until last spring.
Simm has been decorated with a Class IV White Star Order and the Class II Service Badge of the Defense Ministry, the Service Badge of the Information Board and the Police memorial medal. He will apparently have to give up the awards after the sentence enters into force.
