Eesti in brief - 2012-02-09

The Estonian government approved on Feb. 2 a bill that aims to expand treatments, including chemical castration, to sexual offenders, as a part of the punitive system, reports National Broadcasting. International experience has shown that complex treatment, a part of which is, if put in popular science terms, chemical castration of sexual criminals, yields good results for preventing future crimes by such criminals. Justice Minister Kristen Michal said that the bill aims to prevent mainly sexual crimes against children. Law amendments also stipulate that courts can set taking the treatment as a condition for early release from prison.

Feb. 2 marked 92 years since the conclusion of the Tartu Peace Treaty between Estonia and Soviet Russia acknowledging Estonia’s independence, reports National Broadcasting. The anniversary was celebrated with many events, with a focus on Tartu. On Feb. 2, 1920, representatives of the government of the Republic of Estonia and those of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic’s council of People’s Commissars concluded a treaty in Tartu in which Russia recognized Estonia’s independence and statehood. The treaty also ended the War of Freedom that had lasted for 431 days and claimed over 5,000 lives from Estonia and her allies, as well as established a state border between Estonia and Russia.

An Estonian-American violinist has placed first in the National Composition Contest of the U.S. Music Teachers National Association, reports ERR. Tallinn-born Jonas Tarm, 18, who spent the first ten years of his life in Estonia before his family moved to the U.S. , won in the Senior category with a Latin-tinged piece for an ensemble of violin, piano, cello and flute titled ‘Las Ruinas Circulares,’ inspired by a short story bearing the same name written by Jorge Luis Borges. In March the piece will be performed at the Music Teachers National Association’s annual congress.