Savisaar pokes fun at medical report declaring him fit to stand trial
The former Center Party chairman and suspended mayor of Tallinn commented an expert assessment of his fitness to stand trial. In a Facebook post, Savisaar wrote that according to the criteria set by four court-appointed doctors, he would likely be around in Estonian politics for a good while longer.
Four experts had found he was "healthy enough", Savisaar wrote, adding that judging by the criteria the doctors had considered in their assessment, he would continue in politics for a long time to come.
Savisaar also pointed to the fact that his trial could take a year in the first-tier court alone. "I know that 98 percent of the Estonian courts' decisions are in favor of the prosecutor," Savisaar went on. "But Kaur Kender proved that it's also possible to be among the two percent. This gives me hope," he added, commenting on writer Kaur Kender's acquittal of the child pornography charges against him.
The Harju county court decided on Monday that Savisaar was fit to stand trial, after it had received an expert assessment by four specialists. Savisaar's request to suspend the trial against him on health reasons was rejected. "There is no basis to satisfy the request made by Savisaar's defense attorney to close the criminal case regarding him due to the defendant being very ill and thus unable able to take part in the criminal proceedings or bear liability," court spokesperson Janar Filippov said in a press release on Monday.
The expert committee at the Estonian Forensic Science Institute found in its assessment that the former Center Party chairman was able to attend the hearings of the graft case against him, and also to bear liability in spite of his medical condition. Savisaar's lawyer, Oliver Nääs, had filed a request at a preliminary hearing on March 21 for Savisaar's graft case to be closed. He had also presented Savisaar's medical records as well as the assessments of four doctors to the court. The court found that some of the assessments were based on speculation, and on April 11 ordered Savisaar to undergo a forensic medical committee examination.
Savisaar's trial is to begin in Harju County Court on June 12.
Editor: Dario Cavegn