Last week, Estonian news outlet Õhtuleht wrote that Tõnis Rebbas, who worked for thirteen years at the RKAS and was head of its legal department for eleven of those, left his post in March this year by mutual agreement. Rebbas' friendship with entrepreneur Parvel Pruunsild, which attracted the attention of the ISS when Pruunsild asked him about the sale of the former Estonian National Museum (ERM) exhibition building, proved to be his undoing.

The ISS suspected Pruunsild of corruption and so monitored his communications with Rebbas. The monitoring included installing listening devices in Rebbas' workplace and car, secretly hacking into his computer, monitoring real-time WhatsApp and messenger communication as well as his emails, telephone conversations and performing direct surveillance.

In February, the ISS summoned Tarmo Leppoja, the head of RKAS, and Kaido Padar, chair of the company's supervisory board, and presented them with recordings of Pruunsild's conversations with Rebbas.

Although the ISS did not find anything illegal in Rebbas' activities, he resigned from his post at the RKAS because the heads of the agency did not consider further cooperation possible.

According to Rebbas, the Kapo, without any legal basis to do so, influenced the RKAS chiefs to dismiss him. He therefore demanded damages of €22,031, giving the Kapo until November 4 to pay them. When he resigned, Rebbas also received some compensation from the RKAS.

According to Rebbas' lawyer Erki Kergandberg, the case is still pending and they now have 30 days from November 4 to decide whether to take their claim to the administrative court.

"Whether we go or not will be decided within 30 days," Kergandberg said, noting that no decision has been taken yet.

According to Kergandberg, the ISS has issued a decision refusing to pay the compensation claimed.

According to Harrys Puusepp, the ISS' head of bureau, the agency responded to the claimant within the established deadline and explained why the claim would not be satisfied. Puusepp noted that preventing and combatting corruption is one of the main tasks of the ISS, and, under Estonian law, some corruption offences involving state-owned companies are investigated by the agency.

The ISS explained that they met with Leppoja and Padar. During that meeting they presented the potential corruption risks, including those arising from Rebbas' professional activities.

According to the ISS, it was necessary to inform the heads of the RKAS in order to prevent possible risks of corruption occurring during the course of their duties.

Maris Lauri: It is correct to go to court to defend your rights

ERR asked the Riigikogu's Security Authorities Surveillance Select Committee if it has taken an interest in the activities of the ISS in regard to this case and whether it considers these actions justified. Committee chair Maris Lauri (Reform) replied that the committee has meetings scheduled in the coming months with the various agencies responsible for monitoring and those who have been monitored.

"Certainly different issues will come up, both those that have been in the public domain and those that have not been in the public domain but have come to the attention of the members of the committee," Lauri said.

Lauri noted that she is aware of this specific case due to coverage in the Estonian media. "In very general terms, it can be said that the head of each agency must be competent in their decisions and must follow the law. If somebody does something unlawful, it doesn't mean that the manager has to act illegally," Lauri said.

According to Lauri, discussing the issue is part of the committees routine work and, if necessary, the committee will meet again to deal with the matter further and also involve other authorities and parties concerned.

Lauri said that heads of institutions must respect labor laws when making decisions. "This is a question for the heads of the institution, whether labor laws have been breached and how they have been breached," she said, adding that labor laws also concern the issue of pressuring people to leave their roles.

If a person feels that their rights have been violated, Lauri said, the correct thing to do is to take the matter to court.

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