Estonian convicts appeal to Court of Human Rights

[Stan]

http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/17435/
Mar 02, 2007
TBT staff

HELSINKI – Estonian citizens convicted of crimes in Finland have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights over their being forced to serve the jail time in Estonia. The convicts have argued that by being sent to Estonia, they end up with more jail time.

In Finland, the convicts are generally given parole after serving half of their sentences. In Estonia parole is not automatically granted, and in cases where there is a sentence of five-years or more they are not even considered for parole until having served two-thirds of the sentence.

A total of 15 Estonian convicts – mostly on drug-related charges – have been transferred from Finland to Estonia to serve their time.

Officials at the Finnish Ministry of Justice are confident that the court will not rule against Finland in the matter.

[Stan]

Estonia's Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal against the expulsion of an 88-year-old ex-Soviet secret policeman convicted of crimes against humanity.

Vasily Beskov was given an eight-year suspended jail sentence in 1999 for his part in deporting some 20,000 Estonians to Siberia under Stalin in 1949. Despite living in Estonia for decades, he remains a Russian citizen. He was ordered to leave the country last year. The court said no exceptions could be made for crimes against humanity. Mr Beskov was a member of the NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB. Three other men in their late eighties are also facing possible expulsion.

Uncertainty

But it is not certain that Mr Beskov will be forced to leave the country, the BBC's Laura Sheeter reports from neighbouring Latvia.

More here:
http://shaan.typepad.com/shaanou/200...ects.html#more

[Tom Odom]

I guess I am most surprised that someone did not cut his throat...

[Stan]

With recent problems surrounding the Bronze Soldier, newly elected government (Pro-West) and almost all of the ethnic-Russians from parliament leaving, I think pressure was put on the Justice system. It's happened before here.

Estonia lost 2-nill to Russian footballers this past weekend. Most of the Russian fans left Estonia with black eyes and hangovers. I should have invested in modern dentistry

The people most affected by his work are now in their 80's. Had they been a tad younger, I think you would be pleasantly surprised with his punishment

[Stan]

Kind of reminds me of too many episodes of Hogan's Heros

Estonian prison officials foiled an escape attempt by inmates who had started digging a tunnel at the country’s largest penitentiary in Murru, 30 kilometers southwest of Tallinn.

Officials discovered the plot when they came across two dirt-covered prisoners in a little-used part of a cell block. The attempt was doomed to fail as there were dozens of meters between the cell block and the nearest boundary, a spokesman said.

[bismark17]

Those prisons must be rough for the inmates to be willing to even try a stunt like that....

[Stan]

Hey Bismark !

I think it's the food !
That and there's no video games in Estonia's prisons