Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise and Kalle Laanet both addressed the Riigikogu during the session.

Madise emphasized that only a court can determine Laanet's guilt. "Submitting this request and proposal, or even lifting parliamentary immunity, does not mean that Kalle Laanet has committed a crime. Only a court has the authority to pass judgment, and if the allegations are not proven, the person will be acquitted," Madise said.

Speaking before the Riigikogu, Kalle Laanet stated that he had never intended to request anything from the state to which he was not entitled.

"I have served as a minister in several governments and have been a member of several Riigikogu compositions. At the same time, I'm a native of Saaremaa. Therefore, I exercised my right to request reimbursement for rental expenses during times when work required me to be away from my actual home. The law provides for compensation in precisely such situations. That's why I find it difficult to accept the prosecutor's interpretation that I somehow caused damage to the state or committed fraud. I asked for reimbursement of expenses I was legally entitled to. There was no way the state suffered any harm here," Laanet said.

He noted that he had never hidden from whom he was renting the apartment and that all rental agreements had been forwarded to the relevant ministries and the Office of the Riigikogu.

At the end of April, the prosecutor general submitted a request to the chancellor of justice to propose that the Riigikogu lift Laanet's parliamentary immunity.

"Secondly, as you know, I am being accused of renting one of the apartments from a company owned by the son of my wife from her first marriage. From this, it's been concluded that I rented an apartment from a related party. I do not consider the child of my wife from her previous marriage to be a related person under the meaning of the Anti-Corruption Act. Even now, having read the text of the law, I disagree with such an interpretation. I have no biological relationship with my wife's son, and we haven't lived in the same household for more than 20 years. As we have no biological or legal connection, it never occurred to me that we could be considered related persons under the Anti-Corruption Act," Laanet added.

Laanet did not oppose lifting his immunity and expressed support for the chancellor of justice's proposal.

The District Prosecutor's Office for Economic Crime and Corruption recently completed a pretrial investigation in a criminal case in which Laanet was suspected of committing fraud.

According to the charges, in 2022 and 2023, while serving as a member of the Riigikogu and as minister of justice, Laanet submitted applications for reimbursement of housing rental costs based on a lease agreement concluded with a related party. Since officials at the Office of the Riigikogu and the Ministry of Justice were unaware of the relationship, more than €13,000 in rent was allegedly reimbursed without a legal basis.

In March of last year, Eesti Ekspress reported that Laanet had rented an apartment owned by his wife's son's company using ministry funds. He did so while serving as minister of justice and previously as minister of defense.

That same evening, Laanet resigned from his ministerial position.

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