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20 Years Later: Estonia

By Tarmo Vahter Posted Apr 13 2010

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My second and thus far last questioning happened a year ago in the basement of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

On Wismari Street lies Estonia’s most state-of-the-art subterranean proceeding rooms for category-A witnesses / persons to be heard. Mine was numbered 001.

The interior of the room comprised a corner desk, computer and three chairs. One of the walls was probably even see-through from the other side. Like in American police series, the colleagues of the interrogator could remain invisible while observing what goes on inside.

Maybe spy Herman Simm, who had been arrested a few weeks earlier, was giving testimony regarding his crimes next door. His ranting could, in any case, not be heard. The interrogator was a special investigator of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. He was five years my junior, a tall intelligent-looking man in his early thirties.

He began by apologizing profoundly for having to interrogate a journalist. He even stressed that he would not demand punishment in case I remained silent.
I was, after all, a witness, and during interrogations witnesses are supposed to answer questions. I promised that I would not lie.

The interrogator’s first question was: “What do you know about the data regarding criminal matter No. 06700000067 reaching the employees of Eesti Ekspress?”

Of course I knew, because it concerned the so-called Rävala puiestee case, which led to the prosecution of the former Minister of the Environment Villu Reiljan for accepting gratuities. Upon investigating the crime, the Security Police had tapped the phone calls of the prominent persons. These transcripts were included in the criminal case file as material evidence. The court proceedings over Reiljan are still under way; therefore the file is publicly unavailable to journalists.

Thanks to confidential sources, my colleague Sulev Vedler and I managed to become partially acquainted with the stenographers. We learned dirty details regarding some members of the Estonian elite, e.g., sworn advocate Daisy Tauk.

Tauk had warned her client Aivo Pärn about the “tail” attached by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. How she came to learn about the “tail” has remained a mystery. It is a politically sensitive story, considering that Tauk is living with Juhan Parts, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communication.

The Code of Ethics of the Estonian Press obliges a journalist to protect confidential information sources. This is what I told the interrogator.

Just in case, I added that I would contemplate disclosure of the source if the resolution of a very dangerous crime depended on it. The leaking of sworn advocate Tauk’s phone calls did not, in my opinion, constitute significant damage to the Republic of Estonia or its people.

The interrogator quickly tapped in my answer and presented the next question. Did the Ekspress source work for the Public Prosecutor’s Office?

“I am unable to answer this question due to reasons provided in my previous answer.”

The interrogator repeated the question in five different ways, each time changing the possible employer of the source. My reply remained the same.

The interrogator then printed the minutes of the interrogation on the spot and gave it to me for review. I found no mistakes and signed it.

I spent a total of ten minutes in the basement of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The Penal Code allows punishing a witness who refuses to give testimony with a fine or with up to one year in jail. Why did nothing happen to Sulev or me? The reason is the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects everybody’s right to freedom of expression and his been signed by Estonia.

The search for the leak of the Daisy Tauk phone calls ended fruitlessly. Leaks of such a caliber are actually rather rare in Estonia. Meanwhile, Postimees scored with Rein Kilk’s tapped phone call about the so-called “cash-spilling”, which could only have originated from the file of the so-called land exchange criminal case.

Then, Sulev got lucky again. He obtained information regarding the Ivo Parbus criminal case from a well-informed source. Sulev was thus able to write about how some members of the Estonian Centre Party cadged gratuities from real estate developers in Tallinn. The received money enabled a comfortable lifestyle and support for the publishing of the party newspaper Kesknädal.

Shortly after reading Ekspress, the Public Prosecutor’s Office commenced criminal proceedings in order to find Sulev’s source. The investigation was executed by the leading Public Prosecutor Alar Kirs personally.

Among those interrogated was Taavi Aas, the Deputy Mayor of the City of Tallinn. At least one witness told the interrogator about their contact with Sulev and me. We were not summoned for interrogation.

Clever people work at the Public Prosecutor’s Office. They probably guessed that we would hardly disclose our sources.