Harju County Court acquitted AS Järvevana on all the charges in a criminal matter no. 1-09-4486
On 19 June 2012 the last hearing of the land swap criminal case was held at Harju County Court, where the final conclusions of the court ruling were read out. Hajur County Court acquitted AS Järvevana and Toomas Annus of all the charges brought against them and ordered the payment of legal aid expenses in the amount of 611,810 EUR in the benefit of AS Järvevana from the State.
Interception of communications started eight years ago, in 2004, pre-court proceedings were initiated in 2005 and the case has been processed by Harju County Court since May 2009. The Court gave the parties to the proceedings the text of the court ruling, which is being analysed by Attorney-at-Law Leon Glikman who is defending AS Järvevana. In quoting the individual parts of the court ruling, the Court stated that AS Järvevana and Toomas Annus have not committed any offences, all the relevant land swap transactions were legal and the Defence Police and the Prosecutor’s Office have materially violated the law, the Constitution and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The deliberated court ruling was arrived at as a result of three years of thorough and direct proceedings, which among other things included the hearing of approximately 120 witnesses. The ruling of acquittal was unanimous, with the lay judges also in favour. Glikman noted that as a rule the evidence is assessed by the court of first instance, where the direct proceedings are taking place, while the court of second instance can only draw conclusions on the basis of documents, without directly perceiving the circumstances.
AS Järvevana is glad that despite having been under pressure, the Court remained independent and objective, passing a ruling acquitting the persons who had not committed any offences.
Toomas Annus
Member of the Management Board 6805400
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