“I am sorry that this nightmare of a trial, which lasted disproportionally long, has found such an end in Estonia. However, as the saying goes - better a horrible end than endless horror,” Tuiksoo said in a statement today.

She maintained her innocence and said she will turn to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Center Party MP and former minister of agriculture was given a three-month suspended sentence with six months of probation. Because of the criminal conviction, she will have to resign as MP and also leave the party.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld her conviction in accepting bribes. Besides the rural land scheme, which involved 13 swaps of properties worth 16 million euros, Tuiksoo was accused of accepting a sweetener from businessman Toomas Annus, ex-director of the Land Board, in exchange for favoring his company as a landlord for the Agriculture Ministry's leased premises.