Prosecutors rule against opening criminal proceeding against Katri Raik
The prosecution decided not to open criminal proceedings against Katri Raik (SDE), head of the Riigikogu's Special Commission on Corruption, for allegedly falsifying the minutes of a 5G frequency allocation tender.
Raik said the Prosecutor's Office informed her on Thursday that since the petition of Levikom Eesti OÜ is unfounded, no criminal case will be initiated against him.
"I didn't do anything illegal," Raik said.
Advisor to the Prosecutor's Office Olja Kivistik told ERR's Russian-language portal the information provided by Raik was correct.
"According to the prosecutor's office, the complaint does not contain any indications that the minutes of the Riigikogu's Special Committee on Corruption of January 16, 2020 were falsified. There is also no evidence that Raik was trading in power," Kivistik said.
He added that the criminal case is, by its very nature, the most serious infringement of personal liberty and that it must be well-founded. It is not possible to initiate a criminal case solely for the purpose of looking for signs of crime.
At the January 16 meeting of the Special Commission on Corruption, at the request of Levikom, the 5G frequency licensing competition was discussed. In addition to the members of the committee, Siim Sikkut, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Tõnu Nirk, Head of the Communications Department, and Kaur Kajak, Director General of the Consumer Protection and Technical Surveillance Authority, also attended the meeting.
However, afterwards, Levikom said the public minutes of the meeting have been selectively edited and do not publish the actual speeches of the hearing and arbitrarily distort the wording or omit important speeches at all.
Raik told ERR last week that he did not understand where Levikom's allegations came from because the company did not attend the hearing.
Levikom contacted the Supreme Court challenging the terms of the 5G Frequency Licensing Competition, and the Administrative and Circuit Court has authorized the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the organizer of the contest. Levikom's complaint was registered with the Supreme Court on January 10. The lawsuit means that the 5G contest has been put on hold and it is not known when it will continue.
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Editor: Helen Wright
