Ministry Official Cleared of Corruption Misdemeanor
Corruption charges against a Social Affairs Ministry official have been dropped after the Supreme Court turned down an appeal by the Internal Security Service (Kaitsepolitsei), upholding a lower court's ruling.
The misdemeanor case involved a 120-euro fine, imposed after the defendant, Anniki Tikerpuu, conducted a transaction with her own non-profit in her capacity as head of the ministry's children and families department. She had successfully appealed the fine in Harju County Court.
In 2011, Tikerpuu and her colleagues had established a non-profit aiming to reduce domestic violence that received around 12,800 euros in support from the state. After a newspaper reported the conflict of interest, the ministry conducted an investigation and Tikerpuu and another official were reprimanded (independent of the aforementioned misdemeanor fine imposed by the Internal Security Service).