The criminal case relating to Svetlana Burceva became public on Wednesday morning at the second-tier Tallinn Circuit Court, where her lawyer, Sven Sillar, requested her release from custody.

Burceva, 57, has been in custody since the start of this month, due to her reported collaboration with Russian state media.

According to Eesti Ekspress, the Internal Security Service (ISS) suspects Burceva of having violated international sanctions.

Burceva is a Tallinn resident and a citizen of Estonia, and had penned articles and took photos for the Baltnews.com website.

Baltnews.com is part of the Rossiya Segodnya ("Russia Today") media conglomerate, linked to the Russian state and government.

The EU has imposed sanctions on both Rossiya Segodnya and on its CEO, Dmitry Kisselyov, a TV presenter and propagandist.

Burceva also worked as a journalist for the web publication Sputnik Estonia, which ceased operations in Estonia in 2019 as a result of sanctions. Sputnik is part of the Rossiya Segodnya group also.

Since last year, Burceva has been a member of the pro-Kremlin KOOS party, whose co-chair, Aivo Peterson, is on trial for treason.

On February 29 this year, the Prosecutor's Office filed a request for Burceva's detention, which was granted by the first-tier Harju County Court.

A day later Burceva was taken into custody, in order to prevent her from committing any further crimes and/or of fleeing from Estonia to Russia.

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