Täht admits that there are fine-payers among volleyball players. «Yes, I have heard that some have paid, but it has not happened to me,» he says.
Siim-Sander Vene, 27, playing for an Italian club, says that he has not been called up so far and has not had to pay either. Yet he considers this a serious problem. «This is why I am unwilling to talk that there is no solution. I am still afraid that something could happen,» says Vene, who claims that the athletes fear becoming unfit above all.
Top payer: car leasing was more important
The man who was fined 1,200 euros claims that compulsory military service had no place in his life, because it would have jeopardized car lease and a good job abroad.
While the KRA homepage shows only anonymous initials of those evading their civic duty, one of them is Allar Lepp, currently residing in Finland.
Lepp’s troubles with the state began in 2013, when KRA sent him several draft notices. The man, who is living abroad, simply ignored the notices. The bailiff fruitlessly tried to collect the 1,200 euros fine for years until KRA last year decided to have Lepp arrested.
Lepp informed the court in 2017 that he cannot show up for the hearing, since he was unemployed and had no money. He also claimed to have an infant. But he promised to pay the fine in 20-euro instalments.