Top prosecutor Taavi Pern wants to lower the damages limit and introduce a five-year prison sentence if the act is carried out to intimidate a victim.

Under the current law, a perpetrator must have caused damage in excess of €4,000 for the case to be considered criminal.

This means the attack a car belonging to the former Minister of Interior Lauri Läänemets (SDE) in 2023, by criminals acting on behalf of the Russian security services, does not count as a crime because the total damage amounted to €2,663.

"If the criminals' plan had been limited to just breaking the windows of two cars, it would not have been a criminal act under current law," Pern wrote in a letter to the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, also referencing damage to Delfi Russian-language editor Andrei Šumakov's car carried out at the same time.

The saboteurs working for the GRU planned to damage several more cars that same evening, which would have taken the damages to at least €18,705, crossing the €4,000 threshold.

This is the only reason the State Prosecutor's Office was able to prosecute the criminals, Eesti Ekspress wrote.

If the attack had been limited to breaking the windows of the two cars, it would have counted as a misdemeanor under the law, punishable by a fine or up to 30 days in prison.

Pern also highlighted the arson attack at the Slava Ukraina restaurant in Tallinn in January 2025, stating that if the premises had not caught fire, then the damage would not have been severe enough to open a criminal case.  

He urged the ministry to change the law, saying current legislation encourages "a feeling of impunity" and new crimes cannot be ruled out. 

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