Savisaar's health assessment may be completed by June 9
The medical committee examination ordered by Harju County Court to be conducted on Edgar Savisaar, the ex-leader of the Center Party removed from the office of the Mayor of Tallinn by court order, to determine whether he is fit to stand trial is due to be completed by June 9, the court has revealed.
The composition of the medical committee to evaluate Savisaar's condition remains a secret, however.
The court declined to disclose the lineup of the medical committee in response to a relevant request by Savisaar.
"It is not known to the court either who belongs to the committee, aside from the chairman of the committee, and it is not important for the court at this point either," Harju County Court spokespeople said. "The defense indicated that it is necessary to know the names of the experts to ensure the right to seek a removal when necessary. It was said to the defense that while nobody has deprived anyone of the right to removal, this does not mean that the names of the experts definitely have to be known before the expert examination is conducted, as the person subject to the examination will learn the names upon their arrival at the venue of the examination."
The spokespeople noted that barring any unexpected obstacles, the examination is to be completed by June 9. "Thus the original plan remains in force, at least for now, to begin the judicial review of the case on June 12 and all parties have been notified of this," they added.
EKEI experts to conduct examination
On April 11, Harju County Court issued an order for Savisaar to undergo a forensic medical committee examination to determine whether he suffered from and irreparable serious illness and, if so, whether he would be fit to participate in criminal proceedings and serve his sentence.
According to the law, the examination will be conducted by experts from the Estonian Forensic Science Institute (EKEI), which must inform the court as soon as possible of the approximate time of completion of the expert report.
The court rejected a request by defense attorneys for Alexander Kofkin, Aivar Tuulberg and Hillar Teder for the statement of charges to be returned to the prosecutor's office. The court found that there were no grounds to return the charges and that the charge sheet was consistent with the requirements set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The court also turned down requests from Kofkin's attorney to terminate proceedings concerning his client and a request from an attorney for Savisaar to partially terminate proceedings concerning his client in connection with the expiry of reasonable time of proceeding. The court pointed out that the Code of Criminal Procedure explicitly stipulates that a decision to terminate proceedings in connection with the expiry of reasonable time of proceeding can be made only during the court hearing on the matter.
In addition, the court did not satisfy a request from the attorney for Aivar Tuulberg to terminate proceedings with regard to his client becaue of the violation of the principles of fair and equitable procedure and for a constitutional review procedure to be initiated. The attorney cited the leakage of materials of the criminal investigation to the media as the reason for the request.
The court contended that in the digital age, non-leakage of materials of a court case to the public can never be guaranteed, especially in large-scale cases involving a large number of accused where, observing the requirements of the law, the materials have been made available to many individuals in the form of a digital copy. If a criminal procedure could be concluded right away on the grounds that evidence has been leaked to the public, the court explained, materials would be leaked to the public on a regular basis in order to avoid trial.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS