Stockholm (AFP)
Two Swedes are on trial from Monday for having illegally explored the wreck of the Estonia, as part of a documentary which has raised questions about the sinking in 1994 of the Estonian ferry which left 852 dead, mainly Swedes and Estonians.
Director Henrik Evertsson and analyst Linus Andersson, whose trial opened Monday morning in Göteborg (western Sweden), are being prosecuted for having filmed with a remote-controlled submarine the wreck of the ferry, which is off-limits since 1995 by an international agreement.
Their documentary "Estonia: the discovery that changes everything", broadcast in September on the Discovery channel, revealed the existence of a four-meter hole in the hull, so far unknown.
The revelation had reignited doubts about the official investigation and pushed the riparian countries to take steps to authorize new official inspections.
The Estonia sank very quickly, at night, during a storm on September 28, 1994 between Tallinn (Estonia) and Stockholm.
Only 137 of the 989 passengers and crew on board survived the disaster, one of the deadliest shipwrecks of the modern era.
The "marine cemetery", sanctuary by an agreement between Sweden, Estonia and Finland, prohibits any diving on the wreck lying 85 meters deep, where there are still many bodies.
The two defendants, the first to be tried for violating the agreement, face a fine or sentence of up to two years in prison.
It was the Finnish coast guard who detected them in September 2019.
The other members of the documentary team are not prosecuted because they are not nationals of the signatory countries of the treaty.
An international commission of inquiry had concluded in 1997 to a deficiency in the locking system of the retractable bow door of the Estonia, which had allowed water to rush onto the deck reserved for cars.
But the version has remained contested for years, especially by survivors and relatives of victims, amid speculation ranging from a collision with a submarine to an explosion on board.
According to experts interviewed in the documentary, only a massive force from outside could have caused a rupture of four meters.
Until the revelations of the documentary, the countries concerned had been extremely reluctant to reexamine the causes of the disaster.
After its release, the Estonian government called for a new investigation "as soon as possible".
In December, Sweden said it was ready to lift the ban on further inspection dives of the wreck, with a change in law due to come into effect in mid-2021.
jll / hdy / map / lch
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