Paper: Documents hint at prosecutor's, judge's indifference in Kross case
The district prosecutor and judge in Mary Kross' criminal case couldn't even be bothered to explain in the court file why they terminated the case, and the district prosecutor's actions were inconsistent with regulations set out by Prosecutor General Lavly Perling, weekly Eesti Ekspress writes.
Judge Leili Raedla, who is due to retire in January, was the judge to preside over Kross' criminal case at Harju County Court. Raedla presided over two preliminary hearings, on Aug. 26 and Sept. 9, the paper writes (link in Estonian).
Raedla agreed to terminate Kross' case at a hearing on Oct 31. In the minutes of the hearing, she promised to issue a motivated court ruling at 1:30 p.m. that same day.
The judge did draw up the promised ruling, but it did not include the court's reasoning regarding either the insignificance of Kross' guilt or the lack of public interest.
Since 2016, a regulation issued by Prosecutor General Lavly Perling has been in place according to which public interest always exists in cases of crimes against justice.
In cases that are contrary to Perling's regulation, which Kross' false testimony clearly was, the prosecutor should justify their position in writing.
District Prosecutor Ülle Jaanhold, who took over the Kross case from Natalja Lebed, who started work in another field, filed a written request with the court on Oct. 31 to terminate Kross' criminal case with a nolo contendere plea and fine of €3,000, due to a lack of public interest and little guilt. The prosecutor did not explain, however, why there was a lack of public interest in the case or why the defendant's guilt was small.
Alleged attack
This June, the Northern District Prosecutor's Office took the criminal case against Kross to court as according to the charges, the defendant lied about an alleged attack on her at Tallinn's Stroomi Beach.
Kross, the wife of MP Eerik-Niiles Kross, was charged with providing false statements. Kross claimed that she was attacked at Stroomi Beach on Nov. 27, 2018, by two unknown men who threw rocks at her.
According to a post that began circulating on social media, the attackers had told Kross to "go home." The description of the alleged attack also noted that the attackers were wearing EKRE insignia.
The criminal investigation into the incident revealed that Kross was not in the park by Stroomi Beach at the time the attack was alleged to have occurred.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
