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Investigators Open Case Into Murder of Russian in Estonia in 2007

Tallinn's Soviet Bronze Soldier monument.

The Leningrad region branch of Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the death of a Russian man in Estonia in 2007, the agency said in a statement Friday.

According to investigators, Dmitry Ganin was stabbed with a knife by unknown people during the 2007 riots over the relocation of a Soviet war memorial in the Estonian capital Tallinn.

The decision to relocate the city's Soviet Bronze Soldier monument outside the city center met with protests from ethnic Russians, peaking with two nights of riots. 

Tallinn_Bronze_Soldier_-_Protests_-_26_April_2007_day_-_017.jpg
Leena Hietanen / Wikicommons

“Nobody was held responsible for what happened in Estonia, nobody was sentenced by court,” Russian investigators said in a statement.

Under Russian law, if a crime committed against a Russian abroad by a foreign citizen or stateless person does not result in a sentence by a foreign court, the Russian state has the right to pursue justice. 

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