Report: Savisaar Heading to Court Against Postimees Daily
Alleging that Postimees damaged his reputation in 2010 by painting him a "Russian agent of influence," Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar is belatedly headed to court against the daily.
The scandal dates back to late 2010 when Postimees wrote about a national security agency report that said Savisaar asked Russia for money to support the Center Party.
Eesti Päevaleht reported today that Harju County Court admitted the action on December 22, around the time the three-year period of limitation on such civil claims was set to expire.
The Internal Security Service declassified the report on December 21, 2010.
Savisaar is demanding that alleged errors of fact be retracted by Postimees or, failing that, that the court rule that it was unlawful to publish such assessments and order the daily to pay damages
Postimees has removed the articles in question from its online archives, but Mart Luik, the publisher, said this was not an "admission of anything" but rather the accepted practice in the Estonian media.