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The ferry "Estonia" of the Estline shipping company (undated archive photo): Its sinking is considered the worst shipping disaster in post-war Europe
Photo: dpa
A Swedish court found the two documentary filmmakers guilty of making a film about the »Estonia«: As the news agency Reuters and the Swedish daily newspaper »Dagens Nyheter« reported, today in the trial to explore the wreck of the Baltic Sea ferry »Estonia ' pronounced a verdict.
For a television documentary about the accident, two Swedes lowered a diving robot to the wreck in 2019 - and made sensational finds.
Among other things, the filmmakers discovered a hole in the ship's hull, several meters wide.
The penalty was set at 40 daily rates of 470 or 560 Swedish crowns – converted, the respective totals amount to around 1750 or 2100 euros.
Both men plan to appeal the verdict.
It is about important journalistic principles and complex legal assessments, Evertsson explained in a written comment, according to the TT news agency.
"We will continue to push this forward," Andersson told radio station SVT.
Prosecutor Helene Gestrin is also considering contesting the verdict because of the reduced sentence.
Ride under the German flag
In 2021, the two men were initially acquitted of the charge that the dive had violated the grave peace of the "Estonia".
According to the court, their actions were punishable under Swedish law, but a conviction was not possible because they had launched the diving robot from a German-flagged ship in international waters.
Unlike Sweden and other countries bordering the Baltic Sea, Germany had not signed a peace agreement.
An appeals court saw things differently and returned the case to the first instance in Gothenburg, which is now deciding again.
More than 850 dead
The "Estonia" sank in 1994 with 989 people on board on the way from Tallinn to Stockholm off the south coast of Finland.
852 people died, only 137 survived.
Because many of the dead could not be recovered, the wreck is protected as a resting place and may not be visited.
The sinking is considered the worst ship disaster in post-war Europe.
According to the official investigation report from 1997, the torn off bow visor was the cause of the sinking.
To date, however, there are doubts about this.
Following the revelations in the television documentary, Sweden has introduced legislative changes to allow authorities to investigate the finds more closely.
swe/dpa
