Defense lawyer Robert Sarv last week submitted a request to the second-tier Tallinn Circuit Court, demanding the release of the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and who is being held on suspicion of killing the infant in the village of Suure-Lähtru.

DNA testing revealed the woman is the biological mother of the deceased infant.

Sarv's argument is that the woman's arrest was illegal. She remains in custody in Morocco.

The appeal was overruled, however.

Senior Prosecutor Maarja Germann of the Western District Prosecutor's Office told ERR the prosecution is satisfied with the circuit court's decision.

She said: "The court found that the suspect was aware of the criminal proceedings in question and that the Police and Border Guard Board were searching for the mother of the deceased infant."

This meant that, Germann said, she intentionally evaded due process by traveling to Morocco, via the U.K., while at the same time, the Estonian state has taken appropriate steps towards her return, providing consular assistance to that end.

"Furthermore, the court noted that the suspect has been detained in a foreign country for only about two months, which is not a lengthy period of time in the context of international cooperation," Germann said.

The suspect remains in a Moroccan detention facility, and the timeline for her repatriation to Estonia is still unknown.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told ERR on Tuesday this week: "We have communicated with the Moroccan authorities our hope for cooperation and for the prompt completion of their domestic procedures to facilitate the suspect's repatriation to Estonia."

If a Moroccan court decides to return her to Estonia, she will remain in custody here upon her return.

A February 26 ruling by the first-tier Pärnu County Court authorized the suspect's detention in Morocco in absentia, and allowed for her to be held for up to two months from the time of her initial detention.

On Wednesday this week, the Tallinn Circuit Court left unchanged the February 26 county court ruling, and overruled the defense lawyer's appeal.

The court found no grounds to annul the lower court's arrest warrant, noting that the ruling established reasonable suspicion of the crime and the basis for detention.

The court also recognized the clear and present risk of the suspect evading the criminal process, as evidenced by her departure to a foreign country.

On February 5 this year, in a yard in the village of Suure-Lähtru, Lääne County, a deceased newborn was discovered after a family's pet dog had retrieved it from a nearby forested area.

The PPA launched an extensive search for the deceased infant's mother, and DNA testing confirmed that that mother was a 30-year-old Estonian citizen.

Via international cooperation, the police identified her and her location, leading to her arrest by Moroccan police.

The prosecution has stated that since they have not yet been able to obtain her testimony, they cannot speculate on events that might have led to the tragic outcome, or whether the woman herself might have been a victim of abuse.

The investigation is currently being conducted under the relevant section of the Penal Code, dealing with child murder, though the categorization of the alleged crime may change if and when the investigation uncovers more details.

The circuit court decision can be appealed within 15 days of the ruling, made Wednesday, May 15.

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