The Supreme Court Rehabilitates Man Convicted in 1979

The Supreme Court Rehabilitates Man Convicted in 1979. Photo: Peeter Lilleväli / Põhjarannik

On Friday, the Supreme Court of Estonia rehabilitated Heiki Terras, who was convicted of various crimes by a court of the Estonian SSR in 1979 alongside Imre Arakas, a well-known figure in the underworld.

The Supreme Court rehabilitated Terras for actions that can be interpreted as a fight for Estonian independence or against injustices committed against the Estonian people. However, the Supreme Court did not rehabilitate Terras for theft episodes that cannot be considered a fight against the occupying power.

According to the Act On the Rehabilitation of Extra-judicially Repressed and Unfoundedly Convicted Persons, the Supreme Court has the right to rehabilitate persons convicted by courts in Estonia or the territory of the former USSR between June 16, 1940 and Aug. 20, 1991 at their request, if it has been proven that the acts on which the conviction was based were a struggle for the independence of the Republic of Estonia or against injustices committed against the Estonian people.

The Supreme Court of the Estonian SSR found Terras guilty by a decision of Oct. 26, 1979 and sentenced him to 12 years' imprisonment in a reinforced-regime correctional labor colony. The sentence was to begin on March 29, 1979.

The Estonian SSR court found Terras guilty of deciding to travel abroad with Imre Arakas on Sept. 30, 1977, without a passport and permission from the relevant authority, which was not completed due to a failure in the boat engine. On the morning of Oct. 1, 1977, the wind and waves brought the boat back to shore.

The court also found Terras guilty of several thefts committed together with Arakas, including the theft of a rubber motorized rowing boat, boat engines, speakers and a stereo tape recorder, a uniform jacket, roadmaps, archery equipment, and a car, among other things.

The ESSR court also found Terras guilty of breaking into the premises of the Dünamo shooting range in Tallinn on Feb. 27, 1979, together with Arakas and another man, where they demanded the storekeeper hand over the keys to the weapons store by threatening him with a pistol and hitting him on the head with the butt of the pistol, after which they looted 13 pistols and 1,248 cartridges from the storage.

Terras was also found guilty of keeping four pistols and 225 rounds of ammunition looted from the Dünamo shooting range's weapons depot at his residence.

By a decree of the presidium of the Supreme Court of the Estonian SSR of Feb. 28, 1990, the decision of the Supreme Court of the Estonian SSR of Oct. 26, 1979 was amended and 11 years of imprisonment in a reinforced regime correctional labor colony was deemed the final punishment for the set of crimes.

On July 9 of this year, Heiki Terras submitted a request for the review of the 1979 decision and the 1990 regulation and for his rehabilitation. According to the request, the motive for all his actions was resistance to the occupation regime.

The Supreme Court rehabilitated Terras in the episode concerning the theft of the rubber motorized rowing boat and boat engine. Namely, it is evident from the rehabilitation application and the criminal case materials that these were preparatory acts necessary for leaving to go abroad. Accordingly, the chamber believes that it is possible to rehabilitate Heiki Terras also in the theft of the rubber motorized rowing boat and the boat engine Vihr, for which he was charged under the Criminal Code of the Estonian SSR, committed on Aug. 25, 1977 and Sept. 20, 1977.

Although the first escape in 1977 failed, the criminal case materials show that he still had this plan in the fall of the following year. Therefore, the theft of two more boat engines on the night of Nov. 9, 1978 was also related to preparations for escaping abroad, which is why Terras can be rehabilitated on this charge as well, the court found.

Terras' rehabilitation application shows that the purpose of acquiring weapons, including a bow and ammunition, was to directly resist the occupation authorities. Regarding the theft of the uniform and documents from a militsiya car, Terras has explained in his written statement that the militsiya were the enemy, a tool of the occupier, and there was no need to question the seizure of their property. He also explained in his written statement that during the preliminary investigation he did not hide his motives for the act and stated that he was planning an armed struggle against the occupiers in cities. However, the investigators did not write down his statement, but a forensic psychiatrist did.

The chamber reviewed the forensic psychiatric expert analysis report prepared on May 15, 1979, which confirms Terras' claims that he had anti-Soviet views and general ideas about a free Estonia. As can be seen from the expert analysis report, these ideas began to develop as early as the 5th grade. Terras read history books from which he learned that Estonia had previously been free. Therefore, it can be considered proven that the theft of items stolen from the Dünamo archery stadium building and the militsiya car, the robbery and storage of weapons and ammunition were a fight for the independence of Estonia and against the injustice done to the Estonian people, which is why Heiki Terras must also be rehabilitated for these acts.

However, the Supreme Court chamber found that the burglary of the Tallinn Conservatory and the theft of stereo tape recorders and speakers from there and the premises of the Tallinn Music School located in the same building, as well as the theft of a passenger car, had no connection with the struggle for Estonian independence or against the injustice done to the Estonian people. Such motives could not be identified from the materials of the criminal case. Accordingly, the Supreme Court found that Terras could not be rehabilitated in these episodes.