Estonian bootlegger jailed for deaths

The mass poisoning was the worst in Estonian history

A court in south-western Estonia has sentenced a 35-year-old man to five years in prison for his part in the country's worst case of alcohol poisoning.

Sixty-eight people died and 80 were injured after drinking bootleg drink laced with methanol in the autumn of 2001.

Methanol

Also known as methyl or wood alcohol

Is sometimes used by illegal distilleries to strengthen liquor

Used in antifreeze and blamed for hundreds of deaths worldwide each year

Judges convicted Sergei Maistrizin of negligence after rejecting an initial charge of murder for lack of evidence.

Sixteen other defendants received lesser sentences, mainly for distributing the lethal drink, and one was acquitted.

All the victims, including a 17-year-old, died after drinking the same batch of alcohol in and around the south-western town of Parnu in September 2001.

Prosecutors said that Maistrizin, the alleged ringleader of the group which produced the drink, had sold methanol to distributors, knowing it was deadly and would be sold as strong drink.

The County Court in Parnu, 125 kilometres (75 miles) south of the capital Tallinn, heard during the trial that:

• Maistrizin had sold 10 200-litre (50-gallon) barrels of methanol, stolen from a chemical plant

• Most of the victims were poor Estonians who bought the alcohol because, at 30 kroons ($2) per half-litre, it was a third the price of legal brands

• Maistrizin made 50,000 kroons ($3,100) profit on the sales.

Orphans

One victim, a sawmill worker called Juri, recalled how he began suffering poisoning symptoms only hours after taking the drink:

"By mid-day there was nothing wrong, but by the evening I started seeing blue rings and that was it."

Thirty children lost one or both parents as a result of the mass poisoning.