Galojan extradited to Estonia, arrives in prison
Anna-Maria Galojan's three years on the lam in the United Kingdom have come to an end as the socialite and former young politician has been escorted to Estonia, and has arrived in Tallinn prison.
“In three months at the latest she will be transferred to the Harku prison where she will serve her time in the same conditions as other convicted women,” Maria-Elisa Tuulik, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, said.
After a long legal battle, the highest level of court in the UK ruled against Galojan in November last year, but she was still able to launch an appeal. She lost that appeal at the end of January.
Known for holding a position in Reform Party youth politics and her ostentatious fashion sense, Galojan was convicted in 2011 of embezzling about 60,000 euros from a pro-EU non-profit, European Movement Estonia, and sentenced to five months of real jail time.
The Estonian Supreme Court declined to hear the case in January 2012, finalizing her conviction. But she fled to Britain the next month just before she was due to start serving her sentence.
The extradition request was initially complicated by problems over which Estonian authority was entitled under British law to file for Galojan's return, causing some embarrassment for the Estonian government - arguably for both countries.
Editor: J.M. Laats