TALLINN: An Estonian court sentenced pro-Russian politician Aivo Peterson to 14 years in prison for treason, it announced in a press release on Thursday.
The Harju County Court found that Peterson and collaborator Dmitri Roots, both Estonian citizens, “assisted the Russian Federation in the latter’s influence activities against Estonia.”
Roots, who was sentenced to 11 years, had informed Peterson of Russian interest in meeting and cooperating with a political party seeking to shape debate in Estonia, a close Ukrainian ally.
This led to a meeting being planned, which according to the court “would have opened up the possibility of covertly influencing decisions in the Estonian political landscape.”
“Estonian law enforcement works tirelessly to ensure Kremlin subversion fails,” Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna posted on X in reaction to the ruling.
A former border guard, Peterson co-founded the KOOS (“Together“) party, which called to leave NATO, decrease defense spending and preserve Soviet-era monuments in the formerly occupied republic.
He was never elected to public office but secured significant numbers of votes in national and European elections.
Along with Roots, he was also accused of treason for attempting to establish a civil defense organization — but this was without Russian instructions.
The court additionally found that Peterson took trips organized by Russia to occupied Ukrainian territories.
While there, he recorded videos aiming to encourage “Western and European audiences to stop supporting Ukraine” in support of “Russia’s national interests,” which he posted on social media.
Russia covered Peterson’s trip expenses, and he appeared on several pro-Russian channels as a candidate for the Estonian parliament.
The excursion was coordinated in part by Russian citizen Andrey Andronov, who was also sentenced to 11 years on Thursday.
All three were fined thousands of euros by the court.
They have a right to appeal the ruling within 30 days.
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Estonia sentences pro-Russian politician to 14 years for treason
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Estonia sentences pro-Russian politician to 14 years for treason
- Roots, who was sentenced to 11 years, had informed Peterson of Russian interest in meeting
- “Estonian law enforcement works tirelessly to ensure Kremlin subversion fails,” Tsahkna posted on X
Global AI summit in India still without final statement
NEW DELHI: A summit statement on how the world should approach the promises and pitfalls of artificial intelligence was still not published Saturday afternoon, a day after it had been expected at global talks in New Delhi.
Dozens of national delegations, including leaders from France, Brazil and other countries, had gathered in the Indian capital this week to discuss the fast-developing technology.
On Friday, India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there was “huge consensus on the declaration,” the details of which he declined to provide.
He said the statement already had more than 70 signatories, but he hoped it would pass 80.
“We are just trying to maximize the number,” the minister said as the five-day AI Impact Summit drew to a close.
AFP contacted summit organizers and the IT ministry for comment on Saturday.
The summit, attended by tens of thousands of people including top tech CEOs, was the fourth annual international meeting to discuss the implications of generative AI, and the first hosted by a developing country.
Some visitors had complained of poor organization, including chaotic entry and exit points, at the vast summit and expo site.
Hot topics included the societal benefits of multilingual AI translation, the threat of job disruption and the heavy electricity consumption of data centers.
But analysts said that the summit’s broad focus, and vague promises made at its previous editions in France, South Korea and Britain, would make concrete commitments unlikely.
The United States, which did not sign last year’s AI summit statement, released its own bilateral declaration with India on Friday.
The two countries agreed to “pursue a global approach to AI that is unapologetically friendly to entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Also on Friday, White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios, head of the US delegation, warned against centralized control of generative AI.
“As the Trump Administration has now said many times: We totally reject global governance of AI,” he said.
Dozens of national delegations, including leaders from France, Brazil and other countries, had gathered in the Indian capital this week to discuss the fast-developing technology.
On Friday, India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there was “huge consensus on the declaration,” the details of which he declined to provide.
He said the statement already had more than 70 signatories, but he hoped it would pass 80.
“We are just trying to maximize the number,” the minister said as the five-day AI Impact Summit drew to a close.
AFP contacted summit organizers and the IT ministry for comment on Saturday.
The summit, attended by tens of thousands of people including top tech CEOs, was the fourth annual international meeting to discuss the implications of generative AI, and the first hosted by a developing country.
Some visitors had complained of poor organization, including chaotic entry and exit points, at the vast summit and expo site.
Hot topics included the societal benefits of multilingual AI translation, the threat of job disruption and the heavy electricity consumption of data centers.
But analysts said that the summit’s broad focus, and vague promises made at its previous editions in France, South Korea and Britain, would make concrete commitments unlikely.
The United States, which did not sign last year’s AI summit statement, released its own bilateral declaration with India on Friday.
The two countries agreed to “pursue a global approach to AI that is unapologetically friendly to entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Also on Friday, White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios, head of the US delegation, warned against centralized control of generative AI.
“As the Trump Administration has now said many times: We totally reject global governance of AI,” he said.
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