Arvo Sarapuu spared from having to go on trial
Unlike Center Party Chairman Edgar Savisaar, who is under criminal investigation, Arvo Sarapuu (Center), a deputy mayor of Tallinn, has been spared from having to go on trial in relation to the criminal case involving the financing of advertisements for the capital city's Hiiu Stadium.
Estonian paper Eesti Ekspress (link in Estonian) reported that State Prosecutor Laura Vaik terminated Sarapuu's criminal case for practical reasons, however Sarapuu will nonetheless be required to pay 2,000 euros into state coffers as well as cover 800 euros in expenses related to an expert semiotic analysis ordered by the Prosecutor's Office.
The crime under investigation took place in 2013, when advertisements promoting the opening of Hiiu Stadium which featured Savisaar playing a drum, Sarapuu playing a guitar and Jaanus Mutli playing the accordion were put up in the capital city.
The advertisements cost the city nearly 12,000 euros and the Prosecutor's Office considers the installation of these advertisements to be criminal embezzlement as the politicians had thus produced election campaign materials using city funds.
What allowed Sarapuu to be spared from the criminal matter was the fact that he paid his portion of the advertising campaign, which amounted to 3,667 euros, back to the city two years ago already.
The criminal investigation of Põhja-Tallinn City District Elder Raimond Kaljulaid (Center) in connection with the Hiiu Stadium advertisements was likewise ended under similar considerations earlier this month.
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla