"Väling made a name for herself more than a decade ago by proving to be a particularly tough and resourceful prosecutor in court," the newspaper writes. "Together with the Internal Security Service (ISS or KAPO), she uncovered a number of Center Party members in Tallinn City Government, who had taken bribes - Ivo Parbus, Elmar Sepa and Mati Songisepa."

Lawyer Paul Keres believes that the Port of Tallinn criminal case is time-barred, and that the proceedings against his client Ain Kaljuranna and the other defendants ought to be terminated. Keres and other lawyers involved in the case, raised the issue in August. The Supreme Court of Estonia however, has not yet announced whether or not it will make a ruling on the issue, meaning that for now, the trial continues.

This Monday, the prosecution concluded the presentation of its evidence. The process took almost four years and it is now the turn of the defense to begin presenting.

Port of Tallinn case

The Port of Tallinn criminal case got started in 2015 and reach the court in 2019. The case had to basically start from scratch in April of this year when one of the lay judges dropped out due to illness.

In the summer of 2015, the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS or KAPO) arrested Allan Kiil and Ain Kaljurand who had taken bribes on a grand scale as members of the board of the state-owned port over ten years. According to the charges, Kiil was offered nearly €3 million in bribes by representatives of shipyards in Turkey and Poland for the contracts for Estonia's island ferries.

The case of Kiil was dropped in October 2020 after he took ill and was no longer able to attend the trial. Kiil died in June of last year.

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