Court sentences former Tallinn city district elder Tõnis Liinat to prison

Tõnis Liinat was released from custody at Tallinn Prison during the preliminary investigation on July 28, 2022. Now he has to return to prison. Photo: Sander Ilvest

The Harju County Court approved on Tuesday a deal under which Tõnis Liinat, a former elder of Tallinn's Pirita city district, is to serve time in prison for corruption crimes.

The court found Liinat guilty of accepting bribes on a large scale, embezzlement as a public official, and violating procedural restrictions, sentencing him to a combined sentence of four and a half years in prison. He must serve five months in actual prison time.

Since Liinat had been detained for 25 days during the pre-trial investigation in July 2022, he now must serve just over four more months in prison.

The court also confiscated 20,000 euros from Liinat, which he must transfer to the state within one year of the ruling entering into force. Liinat is also required to pay court costs of 2,050 euros, which must be paid to the Tax and Customs Board in monthly installments within one year.

Public Prosecutor Triinu Olev has previously stated that Liinat repeatedly took bribes and not only accepted the bribes offered to him but also actively demanded them.

Businessman Tiit Kurvits paid for Liinat's car repair costs, amounting to nearly 4,000 euros, in April 2020. In return, the businessman's company received a favorable contract from the Pirita city district for maintaining the Pirita beach.

Liinat also requested 25,000 euros from the company Keskkonnahoolduse OÜ in exchange for securing contracts for the maintenance of streets and green spaces in the Pirita city district. Meanwhile, the city district government had previously fined the company for dirty streets. According to the charges, Liinat proposed that the company pay him 2,000 euros per month to avoid further fines.

The prosecutor also accused the Center Party member and city district elder of allowing fellow party member Kalle Klandorf’s daughter to use city district funds for work on her property. However, the official documents falsely recorded landscaping work at other addresses.

Liinat himself has justified his actions by citing financial motivations to improve his standard of living.