The District Court in Viru has convicted Aleksei Toom of sanctions offences and sentenced his to nine months in prison suspended for one year conditional upon no further offending.
Mr Toom’s conviction was for authoring over 100 press articles for a media outlet that is controlled by Dmitry Kiselyov, a designated person under the EU’s Russian sanctions.
Mr Toom’s employment had ended in October 2020, but he continued to write under the pen name Paul Tomson until December 2023.
The Prosecution, and the court, took the view that such articles were an economic resource, and that Russia Today’s portal, Baltnews, was controlled by Mr Kiselyov.