Estonian man on genocide charge

A former Soviet Communist Party official in Estonia has been charged with genocide for his alleged role in deportations to Siberian labour camps.

Arnold Meri, who is now 88, was a highly-decorated soldier in the Soviet Red Army, and is a cousin of the Baltic state's late President, Lennart Meri.

He is said to have organised the 1949 deportation of 251 civilians from Hiiumaa Island, off the west coast.