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On Thursday, the Estonian parliament lifted the parliamentary immunity of MP Kalle Laanet, who is suspected of fraud, based on a proposal from the chancellor of justice, allowing legal proceedings against him to move forward.
A total of 54 members of parliament voted in favor of lifting Laanet's immunity with no votes against. A simple majority of all MPs was required for the proposal to pass.
On April 29, Prosecutor General Astrid Asi submitted a request to the chancellor of justice to propose to parliament the lifting of Laanet's immunity. The request followed the conclusion of a pretrial investigation by the district prosecutor's office for economic and corruption crimes, during which Laanet was formally suspected of committing fraud.
According to the suspicion, in 2022 and 2023, Laanet submitted applications to have his housing rental costs reimbursed while serving as a member of parliament and as minister of justice. However, the rental agreement was concluded with a related party. Because officials at the parliamentary chancellery and the Ministry of Justice were unaware of this, more than 13,000 euros in rent was allegedly reimbursed without legal basis. The apartment belonged to a company owned by Laanet's stepson.
Under the rules for reimbursing housing expenses to government members and MPs, reimbursement is not allowed when the rental agreement is with a related party as defined in the Anti-Corruption Act.
Laanet: Stepson not a related party under anti-corruption law
Kalle Laanet said in parliament on Thursday that he does not agree with the prosecution's interpretation that by renting an apartment from his stepson's company and receiving reimbursements for it, he caused financial harm to the state, arguing that under the Anti-Corruption Act, a stepson does not meet the definition of a related party.
Laanet said he has never hidden the identity of the person from whom he rented the apartment.
«All lease agreements were submitted to the ministries and the parliament's chancellery. I disclosed the apartment's address in my declarations of interest. I have undergone various security screenings. This address was also used in an evacuation drill when I was defense minister. So the information about my apartment has always been public, but the issue only arose after I dared to criticize the leadership of the prosecutor's office,» Laanet said.
Laanet is suspected of having rented an apartment from a company owned by the son of his wife from a previous marriage.
«From that, it was concluded that I rented from a related party. I have never considered my wife's son from a previous marriage to be a related party under the Anti-Corruption Act. Reading the law, I still do not accept that interpretation. I am not biologically related to my wife's son, and we have not lived in the same household for more than 20 years. As we have neither biological nor legal ties, it never occurred to me that we could be considered related parties under the law,» Laanet said.
He did not oppose the lifting of his parliamentary immunity and fully supported the justice chancellor's proposal.