Court rejects request by convicted traitor for early release
Harju District Court ruled on Tuesday that it will not grant convicted traitor Deniss Metsavas's request for early release under electronic monitoring.
The Prosecutor's Office does not support Metsavas's conditional early release, and the prosecutor maintained that position during the hearing. Tallinn Prison likewise does not support allowing the inmate to continue serving his sentence under electronic monitoring supervised by a probation officer.
Metsavas's defense argued that through his conduct and efforts, he has shown that he has drawn the necessary conclusions from his crimes and that continued imprisonment is not strictly necessary to guide his behavior.
When deciding on conditional early release, the court considers the circumstances of the crime, the offender's personality and prior life, behavior during imprisonment — including participation in activities that reduce the risk of reoffending or willingness to participate in such activities during supervision — as well as living conditions and the potential consequences of early release.
The court reviewed the submitted materials, written opinions from the prosecutor and defense, and heard the prosecutor, the convict and his attorney. Based on this, the court concluded that early release would be premature and unjustified.
The court agreed with the defense that Metsavas has several positive factors supporting early release: a stable place to live, supportive family members, vocational training completed during imprisonment, work in various positions such as librarian and instructor of math and yoga groups, no unpaid claims, and savings in his release fund.
However, the court noted that these positive factors alone do not guarantee lawful behavior after release. Metsavas also had a job, home, family and supportive relatives before imprisonment, yet still committed serious crimes.
The main substantive condition for early release is a reliable forecast that the inmate will behave lawfully in the future. Despite the positive aspects, the court considers the risk of reoffending to be high.
This assessment is supported by the seriousness of Metsavas's first‑degree crime, committed over a long period. In the court's view, the risk of new offenses has not been sufficiently reduced.
The ruling has not yet entered into force.
The court convicted Metsavas of treason in 2018 and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
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Editor: Karin Koppel, Argo Ideon
