Estonian circuit court denies early release to Denis Metsavas, convicted of treason
Tallinn Circuit Court upheld a ruling denying early conditional release to Denis Metsavas, who was convicted of treason. The court said serving half his sentence has not yet shown sufficient effect in preventing further crimes.
The Tallinn Circuit Court on Monday upheld a county court ruling denying early conditional release to Denis Metsavas, who was convicted of treason.
The circuit court stated that, given the circumstances of the crime, the criminal panel is not convinced that serving only half of his sentence has had a sufficient effect in preventing new offenses, even though Metsavas expressed remorse and worked on himself while in prison.
Tallinn Circuit Court spokesperson Anneli Vilu told ERR that for early release after serving only half of a sentence — the earliest point allowed by law — there must be compelling circumstances showing that both the special and general preventive goals of punishment have been sufficiently achieved. In the court's assessment, no such circumstances currently exist in Metsavas's case.
The circuit court's ruling has not yet entered into force and may be appealed within 15 days.
The Harju County Court rejected Metsavas's request for early conditional release in late August. Both the prosecutor's office and Tallinn Prison opposed the request.
Background
Denis Metsavas was detained by Estonia's Internal Security Service (KaPo) in September 2018, when he held a senior position at the Estonian Defence Forces headquarters. In February 2019, the Harju County Court found Metsavas guilty of treason and of passing official and classified information to the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff. According to investigators, he had cooperated with Russian military intelligence for more than ten years.
Under a plea agreement, the court sentenced Metsavas to 15 years and 6 months in prison. His father, Pyotr Volin, was also found guilty of treason and received a six-year sentence. In 2019, Metsavas disclosed the circumstances of his recruitment by Russian intelligence services.
