Bronze Night - Events Surrounding Relocation

Events Surrounding Relocation

Estonian Police cordoned off the square and nearby streets in the early morning of April 26, 2007, in preparation for archaeological excavations in search of the remains and, if found, their relocation.

A tent structure was erected to shield the excavations from weather and from public view. Three members of the protest organization "Night Watch" (also sometimes translated as Night Vigil) who were monitoring the situation declined to leave the area and locked themselves in their car. The police had to break a side window of the car to extract them forcibly, causing slight shard wounds to one. Having been removed, Night Watch spread rumours that the monument removal procedure had started. After a few hours, around 1,000 people, mostly Russian-speaking, had surrounded the police cordon and some from the group attempted to break through it. Several meetings in protest of the removal were held. Around dusk, the mob turned more and more violent, starting to throw stones and empty bottles at the police. By around 21:15, the mob activity turned to what the police considered the first night's riot.

In the early morning of April 27, 2007, the Estonian government held an emergency meeting and at 3:40 a.m. local time, decided, upon advice from the Estonian Security Council, to relocate the monument immediately (as "the ground for violent acts"). Three hours later, by 6:40 a.m., the monument had been moved to an undisclosed provisional location.

The government stated that the statue would be re-erected as soon as possible in a military cemetery maintained by the Estonian Defence Forces. As of the afternoon of April 30 the statue without the stone structure had been re-erected. Reassembling the stone structure was delayed out of concerns over the æsthetic qualities of the site on reopening, as the stone structure's weight required a new foundation to be constructed out of concrete. This work began on May 23 and was estimated to be completed by the end of June. For the time of the construction work, the statue was temporarily moved to a nearby location on the cemetery.

An ecumenical religious ceremony (prayer for the dead) was held on April 28 before commencing the exhumation, by two chaplains, a Lutheran and an Orthodox. The Russian ambassador, having been invited to monitor the exhumation, or appoint an observer, officially declined the invitation.