Calm returned to the Estonian capital Tallinn early Sunday
morning after two days of clashes caused by the removal of a
Soviet-era war memorial.
There was no sign of fresh clashing as no protesters were seen
near the memorial early Sunday morning. Police presence near the
memorial to keep order was also less.
A Russian national was killed and 153 people, including 29
policemen, were injured in the two nights of rioting over the
removal of the statue, police said on Saturday. Some 800 people
were detained during the clashes.
In a televised speech on Saturday night, Prime Minister Andrus
Ansip reprimanded the rioters and called for restraint and order in
the country.
The rioters had insulted the memory of the war dead and used the
removal of the statute as an excuse to commit acts of vandalism, he
said.
"In order not to give the vandals the excuse or possibility to
link their activities with the memory of the fallen, we removed the
statue" in the early hours of Friday, Ansip said.
The removal of the monument triggered mass protests in the
country. In two days of rioting, several clashes broke out between
protesters and the police.
Russia expressed anger over Estonia's actions and accused
Tallinn police of using excessive force and the killing of a
Russian national.
Estonian police rejected Russia's allegation that it used
excessive force in dealing with the protests, saying all its
actions were taken in accordance with the law.
Estonian Foreign Ministry said the death of the Russian national
had no link with police action. An investigation was under way into
the death and first results showed that the man was killed in
conflicts between protesters.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said he was worried about
the welfare of Estonians in Russia as the country's embassy
building in Moscow was defaced.
On Saturday, Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of Russia's lower house
of parliament or Duma, and his Estonian counterpart Ene Ergma held
a telephone conversation. Ergma told Grezlov that the decision to
remove the memorial was made for the security of the memorial and
for public order.
"The Estonian authorities have never talked of demolishing the
monument, we have always talked of removing it and giving a
dignified reburial to the remains of any soldiers we find there,"
Ergma said.
Estonia would properly handle the bronze statue according to
international regulations and invite the Russian side to join the
move, she said.
The Interfax new agency on Saturday reported that a Duma
delegation would visit Estonia on Monday to seek a solution to the
crisis caused by the removal of the monument.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2007)
