Ex-Cop Cleared of Leaking State Secrets
Former police anti-narcotics chief Jarek Pavlihhin has been cleared of revealing state secrets as the prosecution's appeal to overturn the ruling has been rejected by the Supreme Court. The ruling by the Tartu District Court is now finalized and not subject to new appeals.
The district court found in May 2013 that the information disclosed by Pavlihhin was not categorized as classified information, and that had it been classified, intentional disclosure of state secrets could not have taken place.
According to the charge, he revealed the identities of five undercover police officers.
The state will now have to cover Pavlihhin's legal bills, which amounted to 22,500 euros.
In the initial case, which the district court upheld, the ex-police officer was charged with embezzling 15,000 euros between 2006 and 2011 and document forgery. According to uudised.err.ee, the missing money was meant to be paid out to a police informant, but never was.
Pavlihhin had worked for the police for 13 years and has been awarded the title of best criminal investigator in Tartu County.