HELSINKI 's Estonian citizens convicted of crimes in Finland have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights over their being forced to serve the jail time in Estonia. The convicts have argued that by being sent to Estonia, they end up with more jail time.
In Finland, the convicts are generally given parole after serving half of their sentences. In Estonia parole is not automatically granted, and in cases where there is a sentence of five-years or more they are not even considered for parole until having served two-thirds of the sentence.
A total of 15 Estonian convicts 's mostly on drug-related charges 's have been transferred from Finland to Estonia to serve their time.
Officials at the Finnish Ministry of Justice are confident that the court will not rule against Finland in the matter.
