Aleksei Dressen

Aleksei Dressen (born 1968 in Riga[1]) is a former Estonian Internal Security Service officer convicted for treason.[2] He was convicted with cooperating with Russian intelligence service FSB. He is an ethnic Volga German.[3]

Biography

During Soviet rule of Estonia, Aleksei Dressen worked as a policeman in the Soviet militia. In 1993 he started working for the reestablished Estonian Security Police. In 1994 he lost his police ID. A year later there was a disciplinary charge for wrongful conduct at work. This happened several times during his career. In 1999 his salary was cut by 30% for two months.[3]

Despite all this Aleksei Dressen managed to become a director of several different units in the Estonian Security Police.[4]

Aleksei Dressen and his wife Viktoria were arrested on the morning of 22 February 2012 at Tallinn Airport. Viktoria was about to board a flight to Moscow. During the arrest a thumb drive full of information was seized.[4] The chief architect behind Dressen's capture is considered to be the deputy chief of the Estonian Security Police Aleksander Toots. In 2012 Dressen was sentenced to 16 years in prison.[5]

On 26 September 2015, he was handed over to Russia in exchange for Eston Kohver.[6][7] The prisoners were exchanged in a manner reminiscent of the Cold War spy exchanges on a bridge over Piusa River.

References

1. "Delfi: Dressen has been charged with working while under influence and losing his work ID". Archived from the original on 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
2. "Norman Aas: Possible traitor apprehended". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
3. Raivo Aeg: Traitor operated for years
4. "Director: Dressens caught in airport". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
5. "Изменник родины Алексей Дрессен приговорен к 16 годам тюрьмы". ERR. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
6. "Eston Kohver vahetati Aleksei Dresseni vastu välja" (in Estonian). Retrieved 26 September 2015.
7. "Kohver released and back in Estonia". Retrieved 26 September 2015.