INDEPENDENCE DAY
In pre-war Estonia 24 February was a state holiday: Independence Day.
This year (the 62nd anniversary of the Estonian Republic), blue, black and white strips of cloth — the national flag of the pre-war Estonian State — were hung out in various places in Estonia on 24 February 1980.
The flags appeared in Tallinn, in the village of Mestalus (near Kohtla-Jarve) and on the ruins of the Dom Cathedral in Tartu. Next day the flag was hoisted on the church of St Lawrence in the town of Kingisepp on the island of Saaremaa.
In Tartu political slogans such as “Long live the anniversary of the Republic!” and “All troops out of Afghanistan!” appeared on 24-25 February 1980. In Tartu some fourth-year students from the Tallinn Polytechnic — Raivo Hermlin, Olev Tiitson, Vello Sostar and Viljo Vilba — were arrested. On 15 May, the Tartu City Court sentenced Vilba to two years imprisonment and Hermlin, Tiitson and Sostar to 18 months each in the camps. All four were charged with “malicious hooliganism” (Article 195, pt. 2, Estonian SSR Criminal Code). Judge Rakhi presided; the prosecutor was Kiris. The trial was effectively held in closed court.
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MART NIKLUS
Mart NIKLUS, arrested in Tartu on 29 April 1980 (not 28 April, as stated in CCE 56.17) Is being held in Tallinn Prison. He has been charged under Article 194-1 (Estonian SSR Criminal Code = Article 190-1 of the RSFSR Code). Specifically, Niklus [1] was accused of the following:
- in 1977 he gave a book, published in Sweden, to I. Valdman (CCE 33.6-2 [21], CCE 38.12-1);
- in 1978 he sent a letter to Professor J. Saarma (CCE 48.23), which slandered the Soviet health service (Saarma is psychiatrist and has taken part in psychiatric examinations of persons arrested on political charges);
- in October 1979 he listened to Voice of America broadcasts with his pupils (until November 1979 Niklus worked as an English language teacher, CCE 54.22 [5]);
- in the spring of 1980, in a telephone conversation, he slandered the elections to the Supreme Soviet which had taken place on 24 February of that year.
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In July 1980, an ‘Open Letter’ about the arrest of Mart Niklus was sent to the USSR and Estonian Supreme Soviets.
Its authors also call attention to the increased political oppression all over the country and express some misgiving that this might lead to “a return to the bloody Stalinist terror”. They demand, first, the release of Niklus and his reinstatement at work or permission for him to emigrate to Sweden; secondly, the release of all those recently arrested on political or religious charges. In addition they suggest that a general political amnesty should be proclaimed. Copies of the letters were sent to Amnesty International.
The text bore the signatures of 21 residents of Estonia and 15 Lithuanians.
Julius Niklus, Mart Niklus’s father, has appealed to the authorities a number of times. He also asks for his son to be released or allowed to emigrate. On 9 May 1980, a protest about the arrest of Niklus was sent to the Estonian Supreme Soviet by Jaans Kuldsepp and Tiit Madisson.
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Tiit Madisson was interviewed by the management of the fishing collective ‘Saari kalur’ where he was employed as a manual worker, in connection with the various declarations he had made: in April he protested at the arrest of Juri Kukk (CCE 56.17) and later against the ‘Communist working Saturday’. He was arrested there “on suspicion of parasitism” (though he was still fully employed) and kept in preliminary detention cells until the Olympic Games were over.
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Issues 7 & 8 of the “Additional Materials on the Free Dissemination of Ideas and Information in Estonia” (CCE 52.17 [15], CCE 54.24 [18]) have appeared in samizdat.
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A Chronicle of Current Events 