Tallinn - A former senior state official who managed secret documents at Estonia's Defence Ministry has been arrested with his wife on suspicion of treason, state prosecutors confirmed on Monday.
"At the request of the state prosecutor, Harju county court arrested a former high ranking state official, Herman Simm, who is suspected of illegally collecting and communicating classified information for a foreign state," Gerrit Maesalu, spokesperson for the State Prosecutor's Office, said.
"The name of the state will not be revealed at the moment," he said.
The Baltic News Service (BNS), however, has reported Simm that is suspected of having worked for Russia, Estonia's Soviet-era master.
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Herman Simm's wife was also arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to treason.
Simm was one of Estonia's key officials charged with setting up a security system to protect sensitive state information in order to prepare Estonia for entry into the EU and NATO in 2004.
"The criminal proceeding is handled by the General Prosecutor's Office and the Security Police Board in cooperation with Information Board and Ministry of Defence," Maesalu added.
According to Estonia's Penal Code, citizens found guilty of treason face three to 15 years in prison.
According to the Estonian daily Eesti Paevaleht, Simm started to work at the Estonian Ministry of Defence in 1995, first as head of the defence information analysis bureau of the policy information department and in 2000-2001 as the head of the state secret protection office.
Simm was also chief of Estonia's police from December 2004 to May 2005, Estonian Police spokeswoman Anne Osvet said.
An ex-Soviet republic, Estonia broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1990 and along with fellow ex-Soviet Baltic Sea republics joined NATO and the EU in 2004, a move vehemently opposed by Moscow. - Sapa-AFP
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