Estonian ex-major convicted of treason may be released on parole

The Harju County Court is set to review a motion for conditional early release for Denis Metsavas (45), a former major of the Estonian Defence Forces convicted of high treason and cooperation with the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Armed Forces. The hearing is scheduled for August 17, as confirmed to Rus.ERR by the court. If the request is granted, Metsavas could be released under electronic monitoring.

Metsavas was arrested by officers of the Estonian Internal Security Service (KaPo) in September 2018. At that time, he held a leadership position at the General Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces. In February 2019, the Harju County Court found him guilty of treason and passing official and secret information to the GRU. According to the investigation, he had been cooperating with Russian military intelligence for over a decade.

Under a plea agreement, the court sentenced Metsavas to 15 years and 6 months in prison. His father, Peter Volin, was also convicted of treason and received a six-year sentence. The former officer's sentence is counted from his arrest in September 2018. By the time of the parole hearing, he will have served nearly eight years. In 2019, Metsavas disclosed the circumstances of his recruitment by Russian intelligence services.