Arnold Meri, a cousin of a former Estonian president, was charged with genocide last August for the alleged involvement in the deportation of 251 Estonians, many of whom were women and children, shortly after World War II in 1949. The trial started on May 20.
"The trial is a purely political order to revise the results of WWII and to discredit the efforts of the anti-Hitler coalition to save mankind from the fascist plague," the statement reads.
Russian parliamentarians voiced deep concern over all trials against former Soviet citizens, who fought against Nazi Germany and now live in the Baltic States.
"Despite the advanced age of veterans and their serious health problems, law enforcement bodies of these countries have for a long time been conducting biased investigations, ruining their health and shortening their lives," the statement said.
Meri has admitted involvement in the deportations, but has denied organizing them, saying he was merely in charge of checking lists of deportees and monitoring the actions of Soviet state security bodies and local authorities.
Due to the large number of eyewitnesses, about 80 according to prosecutors, the trial is held in the community center in Kardla, on Estonia's western island of Hiiumaa, instead of in the town's court. If found guilty, Meri could receive life imprisonment.
While Russia maintains that the Red Army liberated the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia from Nazi invaders, many local residents fail to distinguish between the Nazis and the ensuing Soviet period.
