Due to the illness of Judge Anne Rebane, the hearing scheduled for Monday has been cancelled, and the next hearing is scheduled for Friday, 5 April.

Last December, the Supreme Court of Estonia freed Savisaar from trial in connection with the poor state of his health.

The Office of the Prosecutor General had brought charges against Savisaar for accepting bribes, money laundering, embezzlement on a large scale, and accepting prohibited donation for the Centre Party. The Centre Party is on trial as a legal person.

Several figures accused

The Office of the Prosecutor General is accusing businessmen Aivar Tuulberg, Alexander Kofkin, Hillar Teder and Vello Kunman of giving bribes to Savisaar.

Former Tallinn City Council chairman Kalev Kallo is also accused of aiding the giving and accepting of a bribe, while politician Villu Reiljan was accused of arranging a bribe for Savisaar.

Former City of Tallinn official Priit Kutser was likewise on trial for aiding embezzlement, but proceedings were concluded for reasons of expediency.

Hearings in the so-called Savisaar case began in Harju County Court on 12 June 2017, where the defendants in the case indicated that they understood the charges brought against them but would not plead guilty.

Former Minister of the Environment Villu Reiljan pleaded guilty, and the court decided to separate the charges related to him from the larger case in order to conduct a plea bargain as a result of which Reiljan was fined just over €33.000.