Kalle Laanet resigns as justice minister

Kalle Laanet (Reform) has announced he is stepping down as minister of justice. He will remain in office on a caretaker basis until his replacement is nominated.
Laanet had been facing increasing pressure in the media in recent days about his communication with the prosecutor general, raising questions about undue political pressure on that office, topped off with reports Saturday that he had obtained a significant amount of state support towards renting an apartment in Tallinn, an apartment which reportedly belongs to his stepson.
Laanet, who was defense minister 2021-2022 prior to becoming justice minister last April, said he made his decision to resign after speaking with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform), in the light of the recent media reports.
He said: "To ensure legal clarity and the peaceful functioning of government, I decided today that I will not be continuing in office as the minister of justice."
"Another factor in my resignation is that my close relatives have come under personal, public attack, something which they have done nothing in any way to merit," he went on.
Laanet will continue to disburse his duties as minister on a caretaker basis, until President Alar Karis has appointed his replacement, at the proposal of the prime minster.
Since the relevant legislation considers the child of a public official's spouse as a related person, the head of the Central Criminal Police corruption crimes bureau, Aivar Sepp, has suggested that Laanet may have violated that law."
Sepp said later on Saturday: "The anti-corruption law states that it is prohibited for a public official to make decisions or actions on a person related to them."
"A minister is a public official, and the child of the minister's spouse is a related person according to the anti-corruption law; so there might indeed be a violation of the restriction on actions," Sepp continued. "We are investigating the claims presented in the media, and if these claims are confirmed, then there will be a basis to initiate misdemeanor proceedings."
Justice Minister Laanet himself spoke to ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" at around 4 p.m. on Saturday, around an hour-and-a-half ahead of the resignation announcement, and denied any wrong-doing, referring to "personal attacks" in the context of the situation with the prosecutor general.
"Perhaps I should start with when these attacks, especially the personal attacks, began. It was after the respected, currently sitting prosecutor general failed to get the position of director of the [Tallinn] circuit court."
"However if we talk about this specific case – this was the best price, the best location at that time," Laanet continued, referring to the rented apartment.
Laanet said that living in an apartment owned by his stepson's company now was without paying rent since he had carried out renovations there, so the costs were offset.
According to the government's regulation on compensating housing costs for its members, that government member must declare that a rental agreement is not in violation of the anti-corruption law.
Laanet said he cannot remember whether he has signed a document to that effect. "I will have to owe you a definitive answer for now, but if all the other ministers have signed that, then I must have signed it too. Various lawyers, with whom I consulted, said that [the rental agreement] is not in violation of the anti-corruption law," Laanet said at the time.
"Of course, if I have broken the law, then I will also be responsible for that. I have never had problems with taking any responsibility," he continued.
At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the Ministry of Justice announced that, after speaking with the prime minister, Kalle Laanet had tendered his resignation from the Minister of Justice post.
The Central Criminal Police are handling the case, on the grounds that if any possible violation of the restriction on actions remains under €40,000, it constitutes a misdemeanor.
However, if the investigation reveals that the sums involved exceeded €40,000, it then becomes a criminal offense, meaning the case moves to the jurisdiction of the Internal Security Service (ISS), known in Estonian as Kapo.
Laanet is himself a former police official.
Eesti Ekspress reported on Saturday that Kalle Laanet had been renting a Tallinn apartment from his adult stepson and in his current role as justice minister, as well as previously as minister of defense, and had the expenses reimbursed by the state, totaling around €12,000 during that time.
Controversy had been mounting over his relationship with Prosecutor General Andres Parmas, with the latter saying he had been placed under significant political pressure to resign himself.
Laanet last week appointed Kristjan Siigur as chair of the second-tier Tallinn Circuit Court. Parmas had applied for that position, with around a year of his term as prosecutor general still to serve.
Saturday's resignation is the first by a minister since the Reform-SDE-Eesti 200 coalition entered office in April last year.
Editor's note: This article was updated to include comments from Aivar Sepp and from Kalle Laanet.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov