Recently, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior presented a proposal to amend the Law Enforcement Act, which would allow for broader surveillance, complicate the registration of demonstrations and permit the freer use of tasers and rubber bullets. The analysis is available for public review in the government information system.

The analysis claims: "During the period of taser use, no life-threatening injuries or deaths caused solely by taser use have been identified."

This statement is a propagandist lie, meaning the writer knowingly smooths over their falsehood. ERR reported on September 24, 2019, that "a 68-year-old man died in the hospital without regaining consciousness after the police used a taser and rubber bullets during his arrest in Kehra." To obscure the lie, the writer uses the phrase "solely by taser use." Those writing propaganda manuals might include this tactic in a chapter on "how to lie by denial."

If a perfectly healthy person lying on the grass is momentarily tasered in the leg, it is likely safe. However, if an average person, who is exhausted or intoxicated, is tasered for a longer period in the chest area while standing and moving in a place with sharp corners or hard surfaces, the risk of death is unfortunately higher. Estonian statistics currently suggest a risk of 1:50. Therefore, the ministry needs to ignore these statistics.

The fact that the man in Kehra, who had been violent, was also shot with rubber bullets cannot be ignored. Until it is known how and where he was shot, it cannot be assessed whether the taser or rubber bullets contributed to his death.

From abroad, there are stories where people present during riot police operations were hit by rubber bullets in the neck, eye or mouth, or by tear gas canisters in the head (sometimes when closing their home's window) and died. If someone next claimed that "rubber bullets are safe," one might honestly ask them to place an apple on their head.

The ministry's next claim is, "According to studies, there are no scientifically or medically proven deaths caused by the electric impulses from tasers," which is another falsehood. They cite a source, so this might be due to poor information rather than propaganda.

I recommend reading the 2014 article "TASER Electronic Control Devices Can Cause Cardiac Arrest in Humans" in the medical journal Circulation. The article examines eight cases where mostly young tasered individuals without heart disease experienced cardiac arrest. The ages were 48, 17, 17, 24, 33, 24, 16 and 23 years. The doctor notes that "all experienced rapid loss of consciousness after X26 darts struck the anterior chest area." Result: one person was resuscitated but suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen.

The ministry manipulates the public by steering the discussion to suggest that if death follows tasering, it is due to other causes. Often it is – a paralyzed person falls as gracefully as a rolling pin – but a taser can also kill directly, especially if used repeatedly and aimed at the chest.

Scientific or medical proof requires experimentation. In this case, the truth would be revealed through a gruesome experiment: a random sample of 1,000+1,000 people, from children to the elderly, would be tasered on hard surfaces, and the cardiac arrests and fractures would be counted. Another thousand would be shot with rubber bullets by averagely trained police officers. We would count hits to the eyes and mouth, ruptured arteries and broken thyroids, tracheas and esophagi.

No ethics committee would approve such an experiment – if they did, the institution should be demolished.

Police officers taser each other in training in rooms with soft floors. I sincerely doubt they aim at each other's chests (police officers reading this – don't taser your colleague in the chest during training). There are no elderly among them, they've passed health checks and are unlikely to arrive exhausted. Resuscitation equipment and a doctor are nearby. Data gathered from police training is useless on the street.

There is probably no internal affairs ministry in the world that does not want to grant more powers to the police.

The ministry's task is to ensure internal security, and it employs former police officers – no need to guess which way their worldview leans.

Politics is a balancing act – there must be counterweights. Otherwise, the quiet of the offices paves the way to dystopia. I sincerely hope there is a counterbalance in Estonia as well.

By the way, when and where was the last public course taught in Estonia on how to properly hold a demonstration? If we don't teach it but blindly wait to forbid something, the prediction will come true – unskilled people will make blunders both in the ministry and in the square. Culture spreads only if it is propagated.

Rightfully protesting to protect one's rights is part of public culture that must be preserved and developed, even if it seems inconvenient to some state institutions.

A negative aspect of political culture that should be eliminated is when the ministry lies to the public and partners during coordination. This undermines trust, which is restored slowly – it raises the question of why the next state institution might not lie to get its way, especially if there are no consequences.

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