Appeal court keeps Metsavas in prison

Estonia’s Tallinn Circuit Court has upheld a decision denying convicted traitor Deniss Metsavas conditional early release, ERR reported on Monday.

The court said it was not convinced that serving only half his sentence would be enough to prevent further crimes. It noted that Metsavas had expressed remorse and worked on himself in prison, but said compelling circumstances were needed to justify release at the first opportunity allowed by law.

The ruling is not final. An appeal may be filed within 15 days.

Metsavas was sentenced to 15 years and six months in prison for treason in February 2019. In June, Tallinn Prison submitted documents to Harju County Court seeking his conditional release and placement under electronic monitoring. The county court rejected the request in August.