Hearings in the Reps court case will wrap up next week at the latest, as both a ministry representative and the prosecution have delivered their arguments, and Keres as defense counsel is set to deliver his arguments on Friday.

The prosecution is seeking a sentence of six months in prison for embezzlement and one year in prison for fraud for former minister of education and research Mailis Reps, suggesting that the harsher sentence override the lighter one and the latter not be enforced, ultimately resulting in a one-year conditional sentence.

According to Keres, the prosecution's demand is completely unwarranted, as no crime has been committed.

In a civil suit, the Ministry of Education lodged a claim of €118,820 against Reps. Keres said that this claim can in no way be deemed valid either.

"And for many, many reasons," he noted. "First of all, the smaller (financial) claims have already been satisfied, and in fact I don't even understand why the ministry continues to demand the payment of sums that have already been paid even before court. Even the plaintiff's counsel didn't actually explain today where the logic is in this."

The ministry is likewise demanding nearly €60,000 for Reps' personal use of a company car.

"This is completely unfounded, because a minister is entitled to use a company car for personal purposes as well," the defense lawyer pointed out. "That is absolutely, unequivocally clear."

The third part of the claim Keres described as "financial hocus-pocus."

"Regarding the alleged utilization of Ministry of Education and Research labor for personal use, our argument is that Reps has not utilized Ministry of Education and Research labor nor has she embezzled anything there," he declared. "She has not utilized Ministry of Education and Research labor for personal use."

Representing the ministry in court, Marko Kairjak told ERR that in addition to the nearly €120,000 claim, the ministry is also seeking interest on the claim, which as of Tuesday amounted to €30,269.

According to Kairjak, the ministry is retaining its €120,000 claim because its underlying circumstances remain the same.

"The evidence examined in the course of proceedings confirmed the facts underlying the lawsuit," he added.

Reps had previously reached an agreement with the prosecution to end the criminal case with a plea bargain, however, the Ministry of Education did not agree to settle the civil suit. Prosecutors made an agreement or settlement with the ministry a prerequisite for the plea bargain in the criminal case, however, the two parties failed to reach a settlement.

According to Keres, now there's no chance of an out-of-court settlement anymore.

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