Trial of 88-year-old Soviet hero starts in Estonia

TALLINN, May 19 (RIA Novosti) - An Estonian court said Monday the trial of a 88-year-old WWII veteran and Hero of the Soviet Union on charges of genocide is due to start on May 20 in the town of Kardla in the country's western island of Hiiumaa.

Arnold Meri, a former Communist official, is accused of organizing deportations of 251 Estonian civilians to Siberia in 1949. Estonian prosecutors said that the deportees were mainly women and children and that over 40 of them later died.

Meri has admitted involvement, but has denied organizing the deportations, saying he was just in charge of checking the lists of deportees and monitoring the actions of Soviet state security bodies and local authorities.

Due to a great number of eyewitnesses (about 80 according to prosecutors), the trial will be heard in the town's culture house instead of court. If found guilty of the charges, Meri will face life imprisonment.

Meri received a Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II. He was wounded four times during a battle in July 1941.

Meri is a cousin of the late former Estonian president Lennart Meri.