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Herman Simm
Herman Simm (born 29 May 1947) is a former chief of the Estonian Defence Ministry's security department and a convicted Russian spy.
The Simm case became the first since the restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991 in which an actual agent was identified, tried, and convicted of treason.
Simm was born in Suure-Jaani and was inducted into the Soviet Interior Ministry as a Militsiya officer in 1970 and worked in the Estonian SSR until 1991, reaching the rank of Polkovnik (Colonel). After Estonia's independence, during which he played a significant role in helping organize Estonian resistance to Russian military aggression, he held various positions at the Interior Ministry and the Police Board, including director general of the board, when he started work for the Defence Ministry in 1995 as head of the information analysis office of the defence policy department. In 2001, he was appointed head of the newly formed state secret protection department known as the National Security Authority (Estonian: Riiklik Julgeolekuamet) and was responsible for the protection of all classified communication between Estonia and its allies. As head of the Defence Ministry Security Department, Simm was tasked with coordinating the protection of state secrets. The department is also responsible for issuing access to classified information and for handling data from international organizations, including NATO, the European Union and Estonia's other defence partners. He also took part in the devising of EU and NATO information protection systems.
On September 21, 2008, Simm was arrested with his wife Heete Simm on suspicion of illegal collecting and communicating classified information to an unidentified foreign government.
It is believed that damage caused by Herman Simm was not limited to the security of Estonia. from 2001 to 2006, Simm regularly traveled abroad to negotiate agreements on the protection of classified information with member countries of NATO and the European Union. Herman Simm also participated in the development of intelligence security with NATO and the EU, where he invited other states to check their security systems. In June 2003, he was issued a diplomatic passport, provided to carriers transporting classified information. In November 2006, Herman Simm resigned from the post of head of the state secret protection department, but continued to work as adviser of the Minister of Defence, retaining access to classified information.
The criminal case was processed by Estonia's Public Prosecutor's Office and by the Security Police Board who co-operate with the Information Board and with the Ministry of Defence. (According to the Penal Code, treason is punishable by imprisonment of three to fifteen years.)
On 6 November 2008, the Estonian State Prosecutor's Office released some materials of the investigation, according to which Simm's handler may have been an officer of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) who had been using a false identity of an EU citizen.
On February 25, 2009, Simm pleaded guilty to treason and was sentenced to twelve and a half years imprisonment and the payment of EEK 20,155,000 (€1,288,000) in damages.
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Herman Simm
Herman Simm (born 29 May 1947) is a former chief of the Estonian Defence Ministry's security department and a convicted Russian spy.
The Simm case became the first since the restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991 in which an actual agent was identified, tried, and convicted of treason.
Simm was born in Suure-Jaani and was inducted into the Soviet Interior Ministry as a Militsiya officer in 1970 and worked in the Estonian SSR until 1991, reaching the rank of Polkovnik (Colonel). After Estonia's independence, during which he played a significant role in helping organize Estonian resistance to Russian military aggression, he held various positions at the Interior Ministry and the Police Board, including director general of the board, when he started work for the Defence Ministry in 1995 as head of the information analysis office of the defence policy department. In 2001, he was appointed head of the newly formed state secret protection department known as the National Security Authority (Estonian: Riiklik Julgeolekuamet) and was responsible for the protection of all classified communication between Estonia and its allies. As head of the Defence Ministry Security Department, Simm was tasked with coordinating the protection of state secrets. The department is also responsible for issuing access to classified information and for handling data from international organizations, including NATO, the European Union and Estonia's other defence partners. He also took part in the devising of EU and NATO information protection systems.
On September 21, 2008, Simm was arrested with his wife Heete Simm on suspicion of illegal collecting and communicating classified information to an unidentified foreign government.
It is believed that damage caused by Herman Simm was not limited to the security of Estonia. from 2001 to 2006, Simm regularly traveled abroad to negotiate agreements on the protection of classified information with member countries of NATO and the European Union. Herman Simm also participated in the development of intelligence security with NATO and the EU, where he invited other states to check their security systems. In June 2003, he was issued a diplomatic passport, provided to carriers transporting classified information. In November 2006, Herman Simm resigned from the post of head of the state secret protection department, but continued to work as adviser of the Minister of Defence, retaining access to classified information.
The criminal case was processed by Estonia's Public Prosecutor's Office and by the Security Police Board who co-operate with the Information Board and with the Ministry of Defence. (According to the Penal Code, treason is punishable by imprisonment of three to fifteen years.)
On 6 November 2008, the Estonian State Prosecutor's Office released some materials of the investigation, according to which Simm's handler may have been an officer of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) who had been using a false identity of an EU citizen.
On February 25, 2009, Simm pleaded guilty to treason and was sentenced to twelve and a half years imprisonment and the payment of EEK 20,155,000 (€1,288,000) in damages.