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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 2, 1992                   TAG: 9202030166
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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ESTONIA IS STILL NOT FREE

AS FORMER citizens of once-happy, prosperous and truly independent democratic Estonia, occupied in 1940 by the Soviet Union, we would like to clarify the Associated Press article in your Jan. 24 issue.

In part the article reads: "Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar of Estonia, who led the Baltic republic to independence from the Soviet Union, resigned . . . "

A real hero? Mr. Savisaar, a former Communist, never led Estonia to independence. Just the opposite: He and his comrades in the ruling Supreme Council of Estonia have tried hard to silence the democratic opposition and to stop the independence movement sweeping the country.

The same irresponsible and power-hungry people are responsible for the present grave economic situation in Estonia, meant to make the common people lose all hope, forsake independence and voluntarily join the "workers' paradise" - the shaky Commonwealth of "Independent" Republics.

The whole situation is complex, but the question remains: How can a country be free if there are still 150,000 occupying Soviet troops on Estonian soil, the remnants of terror and destruction, understandably keeping the minds and souls of the population captive? KARIN and KIRILL DOTSENKO HUDDLESTON

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