Estonia's Prime Minister, Mart Laar, rose to prominence for his historical research that unearthed the brutal crimes wrought on Estonian villagers. In 1998, President Meri established a Commission for the Investigation of Crimes against Humanity. An Estonian court found Klaassepp, who had pleaded innocent, guilty of ordering the deportations of more than 20 people in 1949. He received an eight-year suspended sentence. Beskov, too, received an eight-year suspended sentence.
Estonian officials defend their pursuit of Stalinist criminals.
But the trials, he insists, are not witch-hunts. Crimes against humanity are crimes against people everywhere. So we must investigate these crimes. The hunt, however, has opened other ugly wounds. These partisans, who served in Waffen SS units, argue that they were only fighting against the Soviets, as good patriots.