Savisaar case leak might result in internal investigations
Information about the case of former Center Party chairman and Tallinn mayor Edgar Savisaar leaked to the press might lead to internal investigations at the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Internal Security Service.
At the beginning of last week, daily Postimees published details of the corruption and money laundering case brought against Savisaar, including parts of interviews, photos, and officials’ notes. Both Minister of Interior Andres Anvelt (SDE) and Minister of Justice Urmas Reinsalu (IRL) condemned the situation.
“This isn’t consistent with the law,” Reinsalu said. “And it seems to me that we could be looking at a misdemeanor with private life data leaked in this form. The police and the data protection inspectorate certainly will have to analyze this and begin their own procedures,” he added.
Savisaar’s lawyer, Oliver Nääs, has proposed to the Riigikogu to convene an investigative committee to find out how the materials were leaked. Chairman of the Riigikogu’s Legal Affairs Committee, Jaanus Karilaid (Center), said that this wouldn’t be necessary, but that the committee’s upcoming meeting would summon Prosecutor General Lavly Perling, as well as have the ministers of the interior and justice participate.
The most important thing was to be certain that no state authority was behind the leak, Karilaid said. Karilaid has suggested to the minister of the interior to have the Internal Security Service run an internal investigation, and to the minister of justice that the Office of the Prosecutor General do the same.
Both Karilaid and Reinsalu consider it likely that either the defense or one of the accused leaked the documents. Reinsalu pointed out that the materials had been with the state authorities for some two years, and nothing had been leaked in that time.
In addition to the investigating authorities, the prosecutor, and the court, all seven of the accused in the case as well as their legal representatives have access to the documents.
Postimees won’t give up its source
Karilaid also pointed out that the subject of most of the leaked documents was the private life of the accused, and that there was little that could be done to justify their publication.
Editor-in-chief of Postimees, Lauri Hussar, defended the paper’s step with the argument that it was in the public interest to cover the behavior and structure of the current ruling party.
“As far as the Center Party is concerned, today we’re looking at a governing party, the party of the prime minister,” Hussar said, the ruling party in Estonia as well as in Tallinn. “If the media get their hands on material this important, which deals with the behavioral patterns of this party, its culture, its background, and its connections to this extent, then the media have a duty to assess these materials and, if needed, to publish them.”
According to Hussar, the law guarantees the protection of journalists’ sources, and in this case they would not give up their source in court, and not to an investigative committee either.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn