Prosecutor appeals Porto Franco case to Supreme Court
According to State Prosecutor Taavi Pern, the Supreme Court is being asked to assess whether the Court of Appeal correctly applied criminal law provisions concerning bribery and procedural restrictions.
Prosecutor appeals Porto Franco case to Supreme Court
The Office of the Prosecutor General has filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court in a criminal case in which Kersti Kracht, a former adviser to the finance minister, and businessmen Hillar Teder, Toomas Tamm and Jüri Põld were acquitted by decisions of Harju County Court and Tallinn Circuit Court.
State Prosecutor Taavi Pern explained that the prosecutor's office is asking the Supreme Court to clarify whether the two lower courts followed valid case law in assessing evidence and whether the acquittal of the defendants was justified. The office also wishes the higher court to review whether the Court of Appeal correctly applied criminal law provisions concerning the giving and receiving of bribes and procedural restrictions.
"When we brought the charges, we came to the conclusion that the evidence gathered during the investigation supported the overall claim that the accused committed the acts described in the indictment," said Pern.
Harju County Court found Kracht guilty of violating procedural restrictions and acquitted the other suspects on all counts. Tallinn Circuit Court subsequently upheld the same position and acquitted all four people of the entire indictment.
Initially, the county court found Kracht guilty of making decisions between 2019 and 2021 in favour of law firm TGS Baltic while serving as adviser to Finance Minister Martin Helme. According to the court's assessment, Kracht should have recused herself from discussions where she had a conflict of interest.
Tallinn Circuit Court left unchanged the Harju County Court's decision of 31 March, which upheld the bribery charges against Kersti Kracht and businessmen Hillar Teder and Toomas Tamm, and the charge of complicity in bribery against Jüri Põld in the so-called Porto Franco case.
The Circuit Court also upheld the lower court's decision, which acquitted Kracht, Teder and Põld of money laundering charges and acquitted Põld of illegal possession of firearms charges.
"Following a thorough analysis of the Circuit Court's decision, we came to the conclusion that the legal issues raised in the case can only be finally resolved in the Supreme Court. By reviewing the cassation appeal, the Supreme Court can decide whether the prosecutor's appeal warrants examination by the highest court," said Pern.
Source: ERR News
Source: ERR News