Two Harku councilors involved in campaign tent 'scuffle'
Two local council deputies in Harku, just west of Tallinn, were on Wednesday involved in a scuffle at a party pre-election campaigning site, Delfi reported.
Raigo Prants, head of the Police and Border Guard Board's (PPA) West Harju precinct investigation unit, said the authority was notified at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday of the incident, involving two men, on Kallaste tänav in Tabasalu, in which one of the men had reportedly struck the other.
The individual who was struck informed the PPA about the incident, stating that he had not been injured as a result of it, while Prants said the PPA is to decide whether there are grounds to initiate proceedings after reviewing evidence, including camera footage.
Delfi reports the incident occurred in front of the Tabasalu Keskus shopping mall, when Harku Municipal Council deputy Jaanus Härms (EKRE) attacked another deputy, Mart Eensalu (Reform), using his fists.
Eensalu spoke to Delfi, saying he was visiting the mall when the alleged assault took place, immediately following a conversation he had with Härms.
Härms himself described the incident as a "minor scuffle," adding his party "regrets such an incident could occur for reasons beyond our control," and that "EKRE does not tolerate either verbal or physical violence."
Härms confirmed EKRE's Harku branch had been campaigning by the Tabasalu Keskus on Wednesday, but said Eensalu had instigated things, insulting Härms with obscenities and remarks about his family inside "a non-public space," ie. the EKRE campaigning tent, adding that Eensalu had then begun pushing him.
Eensalu denies this version of events, saying: "He just came up and started striking me with his fists," adding the incident had also involved kicking, and that he made efforts to defend himself.
While Eensalu says he reported the case to the PPA, Härms says he himself had previously filed a misdemeanor report with the PPA too, though Eensalu claims this report related to an earlier and unrelated incident.
Eensalu did note he had spoken to Härms with regard to the use of a nearby disabled parking spot, and that things had escalated after he, Eensalu, had made an "emotional" remark to an EKRE colleague of Härms' — Delfi had been unable to reach that colleague, EKRE member Toivo Tasa, at the time of writing.
Advance voting for the local elections in Estonia starts Monday, and polling day is Sunday, October 19. Härms is running in the number one list of EKRE candidates in Harku, while Eensalu is number two on Reform's electoral list.
--
Editor: Andrew Whyte
