The Riigikogu did not remove parliamentary immunity from Tõnis Mölder
At its today’s sitting, the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) did not grant consent to the removal of parliamentary immunity from Member of the Riigikogu Tõnis Mölder, and to the continuation of the legal proceedings against him.
Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise forwarded to the Riigikogu the request of the Prosecutor General to remove parliamentary immunity from Tõnis Mölder. She pointed out in her report that although in legal terms it was referred to as a proposal by the Chancellor of Justice, and in that case it may appear as if the Chancellor of Justice agreed with the request, the Chancellor of Justice had no authority to evaluate the evidence or any other important aspects. “Therefore, the Chancellor of Justice cannot agree or disagree with this request,” she said.
According to her, it has been the Riigikogu’s wish and intent that the Chancellor of Justice must not assess the evidence, as well as, for example, whether the alleged misuse of expense allowance should be addressed through criminal proceedings, or whether such use of state resources is reasonable. “I also emphasize that it is up to the people’s representative body to decide which acts constitute crimes, whether the cases where no one has suffered any harm and no one has gained any profit, and where it also has not been proven that anything evil has been agreed on should be treated as crimes,” she said.
According to Madise, the request of the Prosecutor General states that the Estonian Internal Security Service has filed charges against Mölder for submitting on 15 November 2022, as a member of the Riigikogu, through the Estonian Centre Party, a proposal to include in the State Budget for 2024 Bill the payment of activity support in the amount of 25,000 euros to the non-profit organization Kõo Hunting Society. “Before submitting the proposal, Tõnis Mölder entered into an agreement with a representative of NPO Kõo Hunting Society that when the activity support has been paid, he would receive at least 10,000 euros in return for submitting the proposal. Whether this agreement is substantiated by direct evidence, whether such an agreement existed, and whether the proceedings that took place were lawful may, in accordance with the law, be assessed only by a court,” the Chancellor of Justice said.
She also noted that, during the investigation, the Member of Parliament’s e-mails had been seized, and these e-mails had been found to contain elements of fraud as defined by the Penal Code. “According to the suspicion, on 10 January 2023, the Member of the Riigikogu submitted to the Finance Department of the Chancellery of the Riigikogu an application to which invoice No. 221530 from Vali Press OÜ in the amount of 624 euros was attached, and requested reimbursement of this amount as an expense related to the work of the Riigikogu. The Chancellery of the Riigikogu did indeed make a payment to Tõnis Mölder to reimburse this invoice,” Madise said, adding that according to the charges, Mölder had been aware that the Christmas cards purchased on the basis of this invoice were not related to the work of a member of the Riigikogu, but constituted election propaganda. “And the Chancellery of the Riigikogu was misled, and this is how this fraud took place, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.”
Member of the Riigikogu Tõnis Mölder said before the Riigikogu that he did not accept the charges brought against him. “In Estonia, only a court can determine guilt. Not removing my parliamentary immunity will not free me of suspicion in a criminal matter or constitute an assessment by you of my actions or inactions. Rejecting the request will allow the Prosecutor’s Office to conduct proper pre-trial proceedings. My wish is that the Prosecutor’s Office corrected all unlawful errors in the pre-trial proceedings, and if it is then decided to proceed with this criminal case, I am prepared to resolve these issues in court,” he said.
Varro Vooglaid and Anti Poolamets from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Parliamentary Group and non-attached Members of the Riigikogu Kalle Grünthal took the floor during the debate.
44 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice, and one was against it. The proposal was not supported because a majority of the votes of the members of the Riigikogu, that is, at least 51 votes, would have been needed for it to be passed.
The decision of the Riigikogu means that the Prosecutor’s Office cannot prepare a statement of charges regarding the member of the Riigikogu and take the criminal matter to court. According to the law, this can be done only at the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice and with the consent of a majority of the members of the Riigikogu.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
Photos (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
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