The Prosecutor's Office accuses Laanet of knowingly submitting applications to the Ministry of Justice and the Riigikogu Chancellery in 2022 and 2023, during his time as minister of justice and as a member of the Riigikogu, seeking reimbursement for rental expenses based on a lease agreement concluded with a related party.

"Kalle Laanet affirmed in the reimbursement requests submitted to both the Riigikogu Chancellery and the Ministry of Justice that the rental agreement had not been concluded with a person related to him under the meaning of the Anti-Corruption Act," said district prosecutor Olgerd Petersell, who filed the indictment with Harju County Court.

The rental agreement submitted by Laanet had been signed with a private limited company owned and solely managed by his wife's son. As officials at the Riigikogu Chancellery and the Ministry of Justice were unaware of this and had no way to verify it, more than €13,000 in housing rental costs were reimbursed to Laanet without legal basis, according to the charges.

"According to the indictment, by denying the connection with the apartment owner, Kalle Laanet misled both the Riigikogu Chancellery and ministry officials, as under the Anti-Corruption Act, a wife's son is also considered a related person to the official," the district prosecutor added.

He also noted that, in the opinion of the prosecutor's office, all necessary evidence has been collected during the pretrial investigation and that it provides sufficient grounds to bring charges so that the court can assess the evidence and render a judgment.

The pretrial investigation was conducted by the Central Criminal Police under the direction of the District Prosecutor's Office for Economic and Corruption Crimes.

On May 22, the Riigikogu lifted Laanet's parliamentary immunity. At the time, Laanet addressed the Riigikogu and reiterated to ERR on Wednesday that he had never intended to claim anything from the state he was not entitled to and had never concealed from whom he was renting the apartment.

He said all rental agreements had been submitted to the ministries and the Riigikogu Chancellery.

"If you look at what has changed over this time, it's just one thing: the former prosecutor general, who had been rotated to the prosecutor's office, is now back at the district court. But at that time, he committed a violation of paragraph 30, subsection 2 of the Prosecutor's Office Act, and no proceedings have been initiated against him," Laanet said. "I will argue this in court in the interest of legal clarity. In my view, it is extremely important that we have reached this point, because legal clarity is needed in Estonian society."

Laanet added that he remains a member of the Riigikogu until he has been convicted of a crime in all three court instances, though he doubts that will ever happen, as he believes he has committed no crime.

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