Savisaar case did not leak from prosecutor's office, ISS - parlt panel chair

Photo: Uurimistoimikud

The Legal Affairs Committee of the Estonian parliament obtained certainty on Monday that the materials of the case brought against former Center Party chairman and Tallinn mayor Edgar Savisaar were not leaked to the media by the Office of the Prosecutor General or the Internal Security Service (ISS), committee chairman Jaanus Karilaid said.

"The Legal Affairs Committee has no grounds to think the leak occurred in the prosecutor's office or ISS," Karilaid told BNS after the committee's meeting with Attorney General Lavly Perling, ISS director general Arnold Sinisalu, Justice Minister Urmas Reinsalu and Minister of the Interior Andres Anvelt. "The materials were leaked either by the defense or the accused."

Editorial staff of the daily Postimees that published information about the Savisaar graft case last week have also confirmed that the prosecutor's office was not the source of the material.

Karilaid said the Office of the Prosecutor General had conducted an internal investigation to identify the potential leaker, analyzing log files and mail movements. "The chief prosecutor and the ISS director general told us how the investigation was conducted," he said, adding that at the prosecutor's office five persons and at ISS four or five persons had access to the materials.

"All our visitors agreed that a situation where someone manipulates public opinion is not normal, but what comes next is for the parliament to decide," Karilaid said. "We agreed that the minister of justice will in the first half of next year appear before the committee with specific proposals on how to avoid such leaks of information."