Photo: Ly Menov
Director Henrik Evertsson and analyst Linus Andersson are accused of filming the shipwreck using a remote-controlled submarine in September 2019. They have denied any wrongdoing.
In 1995, authorities in Estonia, Finland and Sweden signed an international agreement that said the wreck was the final place of rest for victims of the disaster and banned any exploration of the area.
A total of 852 people, mostly Swedes and Estonians, were killed when the ferry sank in stormy weather in the Baltic Sea - the deadliest peacetime shipwreck in European waters.
The original inquiry in 1997 concluded that the locking system of the ship's retractable ramp was defective, flooding the car deck and causing the vessel to roll over and sink during the night.
The joint report rejected speculation that the ferry could have sunk due to an explosion on board, or a collision with another ship.
But a 2020 documentary rekindled doubts about the investigation and prompted authorities to probe further. The conclusions of the original inquiry had also been disputed for years by survivors and relatives of victims
"Estonia: the discovery that changes everything" was broadcast in September on the Discovery Channel and revealed the existence of a previously-unknown four-metre hole in the hull.
According to experts interviewed in the documentary, only a massive force from outside could have caused the rupture.
Until the revelations in the documentary, the countries concerned had been extremely reluctant to re-examine the causes of the disaster.
However, authorities say the information "cannot change the conclusions" on how the MS Estonia sank.
A preliminary report by the Estonian government found that the newly-discovered damage was too small to have sunk the ship as quickly as it did.
"Possible explanation for such damage could be a contact with an underwater object such as a seabed rock," the report stated, adding that Estonia was not opposed to a new investigation.
The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority has also stated that they need more information before reopening an investigation into the 1994 disaster.
Proceedings at the district court in Gothenberg are examining whether footage in the new documentary film had been obtained in violation of the 1995 law.
The two defendants are accused by Sweden's public prosecutor's office of travelling to the site of disaster on a German-flagged ship, where they were found by the Finnish Coast Guard.
The two men are the first to be tried for violating the agreement and face a fine or imprisonment of up to two years.
Other members of the documentary team are not facing trial because they are not citizens from the countries that signed the treaty to protect the "marine cemetery".
https://www.euronews.com/2021/...
