Crime in Estonia: Difference between revisions
Sander Säde (talk | contribs) →Prostitutes: rm unsourced and ancient claims |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 46: | Line 46: | ||
=== Prostitutes === |
=== Prostitutes === |
||
Prostitution was widespread.<ref>Poder, Airi & J.S. Bingham. "Sexually Transmitted Infections in Estonia". ''International Journal of STD and AIDS''. 1999; 10: 669-672.</ref> |
Prostitution was widespread.<ref>Poder, Airi & J.S. Bingham. "Sexually Transmitted Infections in Estonia". ''International Journal of STD and AIDS''. 1999; 10: 669-672.</ref> |
||
=== Molestation === |
|||
Children are often molested. |
|||
== References == |
== References == |
||
Revision as of 07:00, 14 June 2009
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2008) |
 | This article needs to be updated. (July 2008) |
 | It has been suggested that Human trafficking in Estonia be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since June 2009. |
There are several criminal organizations operating in Estonia. Each of these groups has at least ten active members, and the largest ones are thought to have close to one hundred members.
Crime statistics
| This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2009) |
Crime in Estonia has exploded since the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to statistics published in Britain in 2008 about the period 1991–2001, the number of crimes increased by 84% from 1991 to 2001.[1] The number of drug-related crimes increased by 1993% between 1997 and 2001 alone.[1] An average of 9.4 people per 1000,000 per year were killed in Estonia between 1999 and 2001.[1] Significant increases in drug-related crime and drug use prompted international concern in 1996.[2]
Crime organizations
Organized crime in Estonia has flourished since the mid-to-late 1990s.[3] There are various criminal gangs and organizations specialising in different types of crime. These, like Estonian society in general, are also stratified according to the ethnic backgrounds of their participants. While Estonia has both significant indigenous and ethnic Russian gangs, Estonia's ethnic Estonian criminals are more international than their Russian counterparts.[4]
The Common Fund
The Common Fund is a traditional umbrella organisation of criminal groups, a trade union of sorts which settles conflicts and establishes the boundaries of the spheres of interest of the various groups. The group also helps imprisoned members.[citation needed]
The Council
The Council is the Estonian-language equivalent of the Common Fund and mainly comprises young Estonian businessmen, who help in the transit of large consignments of drugs, and who are also involved in other types of economic crime.[citation needed]
The Estonians' Group
The Estonians' Group (also known as Linnuvabrik's group after a village near Estonia's capital) is a disparate gang because the leaders of its different factions are in conflict with each other. The group specialises in the international drugs trade, car theft, and economic crime in the Nordic countries and Western Europe.[citation needed]
The Kemerovo Group
The strongest group, the Kemerovo group, operates in the drug business, prostitution, car theft, and extortion. The group has four main figures, of whom one is above the rest. This mainly ethnic Russian criminal group has begun to spread out into the Nordic countries.[citation needed]
The Stasi Group
The Stasi Group is an ethnic Russian gang which specialises in stealing cars and selling them back to their owners.[citation needed]
The Okun Group
The Okun Group, named after its boss, is involved in extortion, larceny, and car theft. The members have close ties with criminal elements in Russia.[citation needed]
The Azeri Group
The Azeri Group comprises about 50 men from Azerbaijan, and focuses on the heroin business. They work together with fellow Azeris in the Nordic and the Baltic countries.[citation needed]
Varia
Corruption
A total of 326 corruption-related offenses were identified and registered in 2008, considerably below the number registered in 2006, when 511 instances of corruption were found, but 17% higher than in 2007, and slightly higher than in 2003.[5] These accounted for just 0.6% of all criminal offenses.[5] Overall in 2008 Estonia ranked 27th in a list of the least corrupt countries in the world (out of 180). For comparison, the United States ranked 18th and Russia ranked 147th.[6]
Intellectual rights piracy
According to the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), internet piracy, particularly regarding File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers and peer-to-peer (P2P) systems, emerged as a predominant intellectual piracy concern in Estonia, which was designated for a "special mention" in the organization's 2006 report.[7] Piracy of optical discs was also identified as a "serious problem": the IIPA remarked that the Estonian market "remains under threat from pirate optical disc product manufactured in other countries, notably Russia. As a general trend, however, the import of pirate goods is decreasing due to the growth of locally produced pirate CD-Rs and DVD-Rs."[7] Estonia's courts "generally only impose minimum sentences for intellectual property crime, despite the new Penal Law and Misdemeanor Act of 2002, which increased maximum penalties."[7]
Jewellery theft
In 1985 Raivo Roosna and Aleks Lepajõe robbed the Tillander store in Helsinki. In December 2006, it was estimated that Estonian criminals were responsible for 140 robberies of jewellery and watch stores in Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden during the last three years. The value of the lost property is estimated to be 25 million Euros.[8]
Narcotics
The illegal drug trade's turnover in Estonia, according to 2008 estimates, exceeds $5 million kroons, bringing in more cash than either the revenues of the Estonian forest and textile industries, as well as the culture sector.[9] Just 1% of the whole amount of drugs on the market is confiscated.[9]
Prostitutes
Prostitution was widespread.[10]
Molestation
Children are often molested.
References
- ^ a b c Archer, Clive. New Security Issues in Northern Europe: The Nordic and Baltic States and the ESDP. London: Routledge, 2008. ISBN 041539340X, ISBN 9780415393409. P. 25.
- ^ "1996 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, March 1997". U.S. Department of State. March 1997. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
- ^ "Estonia". Human Rights Reports of Europe and Central Asia. 2008. The Protection Project. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
- ^ Harju, Jukka. "Estonia's Obtshak Crime Organisation a Major Supplier of Finnish Illegal Drug Market". Helsingin Sanomat International Edition. 23 April 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
- ^ a b "Crime in Estonia in 2008." Criminal Policy Studies No 10. Pp. 48-52 Tallinn: Ministry of Justice. Criminal Policy Department. 2009.
- ^ Corruption Perception Report accessed on June 14, 2009
- ^ a b c "Special Mention: Estonia". International Intellectual Property Alliance 2006 Special 301. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
- ^ Kuusi kultaryöstöa kahdessa vuodessa, Helsingin Sanomat, December 20 2006, page A13
- ^ a b Tere, Juhan. "Estonian Narcotics Market Turnover Exceeds Five Million Kroons". The Baltic Course. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Poder, Airi & J.S. Bingham. "Sexually Transmitted Infections in Estonia". International Journal of STD and AIDS. 1999; 10: 669-672.
- Organised crime situation report 2001 at www.coe.int/ (Council of Europe)
Further reading
- Saar, Jüri, Anna Markina, Andri Ahven, Aet Annist, and Jaan Ginter. Crime in Estonia: 1991-2001. 2003. ISBN 9985751094.