Estonian pensioner declared dead faces month without pension

ERR reports that a 79-year-old pensioner in Narva was mistakenly declared dead and removed from Estonia’s population register, leaving her without access to her bank account, documents, prescriptions and pension.

Zinaida Jelina’s life changed on August 18, when the error was made. “I am alive, but suddenly dead,” Jelina told ERR’s Aktuaalne kaamera.

Jelina suspects she may have been confused with someone else, although the reason for the mistake is not certain. She has since been visiting government offices to restore her status. She received new documents on September 2, but her pension payments will not be restored for another 10 days.

Police advised her to ask relatives for financial support in the meantime. The police have also launched an internal review into the incident.

The Ministry of the Interior said similar mistakes occur two or three times a year in Estonia and are generally caused by human error. It said the population register could not be made completely foolproof.

“If someone simply enters the wrong person’s details, no machine can detect it. The person is the weakest link in these systems. It cannot be completely ruled out,” said Enel Pungas, head of the ministry’s population procedures department.

Jelina said representatives of city and state authorities had shown interest in her case, but no one had apologised.

“I would like to look the woman who let me down like this in the eye,” Jelina said.