Savisaar health report with the courts, not clear what outcome is yet

The health assessment report of former Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar arrived at the Harju County court yesterday as expected and reported on ERR news.
The assessment, carried out by a panel of seven experts at the Estonian Forensic Science Institute (EKEI), was to recommend whether Savisaar was fit to stand trial on various corruption charges, which had started last year but was constantly held up by Mr. Savisaar's health issues.
Several other men stood charge together with Mr. Savisaar as well as the Centre Party itself, the political party to which Mr. Savisaar belongs and which he helped found.
The contents of the report contain sensitive health data and so are unlikely to be made public in full, but ERR understands that the general tenor of the report states that Savisaar's healthy is sufficiently robust to enable him to stand trial, though with some reservations.
These reservations include questions surrounding the interpretation of expert opinions.
The courts sent the expert review both to Edgar Savisaar's lawyers, and to Chief Public Prosecutor, Steven-Hristo Evest, yesterday, Thursday.
The report was ordered in February of this year, and Harju County court is to decide how to progress with the trial on 5 June.
Mr. Savisaar had needed to be hospitalised several times during hearings through the second half of 2017, and his own family Doctor had expressed doubts about his fitness to stand trial, on the basis of health issues.
Possible solutions put forward before the report was authorised included Mr. Savisaar appearing in court for 45 minutes to one hour stretches, punctuated by half hour breaks.
Edgar Savisaar is standing on charges of embezzelment and the taking and giving of bribes, together with unlawful donations to the Centre Party and money laundering, during his time as Mayor of Tallinn (2007-2015).
His co-defendants include supermarket tycoon Hillar Teder, who is also involved in an international case regarding ownership of the Sky Mall in Kiev, Ukraine, in which he was a major investor.
The trial started in Harju county on 12 June 2017, when all defendants bar one pleaded not guilty. Only Villu Reiljan pleaded guilty.
Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: ERR Uudised