Harju District Court declined to review NGO Slava Ukraini's request for a certificate stating it is not a party to the Lehtme proceedings and left the organization in the case. The decision blocks the NGO from dissolving as planned.

Slava Ukraini sought the certificate after Tartu District Court rejected its October 8 request to be removed from Estonia's central business register. The first-tier Tartu court said it could not approve the deletion because the NGO is still a party, as a victim, in an ongoing criminal case.

Under a recent change to the Commercial Code, a legal entity cannot be removed from the register while it remains a party in any active court case.

Harju District Court emphasized that it cannot override the registrar's authority in Tartu or make separate decisions on facts relevant to a specific case. Under the Commercial Code, the power to assess whether a deletion is allowed, as well as the application of the law, rests with the registrar.

The Prosecutor's Office told the court it did not see the NGO's planned liquidation as an obstacle to continuing the case. However, prosecutors said there are no legal grounds to remove Slava Ukraini from the Lehtme proceedings, noting the group qualifies as a victim.

They added that a victim's personal preference cannot justify removal.

Lehtme's defense attorney countered that Tartu District Court should be allowed to confirm that deleting the NGO from the register would not affect the case. The defense also supported removing Slava Ukraini from the proceedings.

Harju District Court sided with prosecutors, noting that a victim's desire to participate or not is not decisive.

"If an individual meets the definition of a victim, they must be included in the proceedings," the court said, adding that the extent to which a victim exercises their rights is largely up to the victim themselves.

"Therefore, the court cannot remove a victim from criminal proceedings without legal grounds (this also applies in situations where the victim does not wish to be a victim), and the court finds that no circumstances have been presented in the NGO Slava Ukraini case that would justify removing the victim from the proceedings," the ruling states.

Lehtme facing embezzlement charges

Earlier this fall, Slava Ukraini's former members opted not to sue Lehtme to recover donor funds, opting to push forward with liquidation instead. Six of its 11 members supported the move. The group had already voted last fall to wind down operations due to shrinking donations.

The Estonian charity nonprofit Slava Ukraini was founded by Johanna-Maria Lehtme, Janeli Sundja and Elo Laura Aaspõld in March 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It raised over €6 million.

Until August 2022, Slava Ukraini provided humanitarian aid exclusively through the Ukrainian NGO All For Victory.

In spring 2023, Lehtme came under suspicion after €1.5 million in Estonian donations landed at a private firm linked to the directors of the NGO's Ukrainian partner. She has denied wrongdoing.

The Office of the Prosecutor General launched an investigation involving Lehtme in May 2023.

Over two years, the Central Criminal Police, in cooperation with Ukrainian authorities, compiled an extensive file, based on which Estonian prosecutors filed an indictment against her with Harju District Court early this August.

Lehtme is charged with abuse of trust and embezzlement of large-scale donations in connection with the NGO Slava Ukraini. A preliminary hearing in the case took place in Harju District Court on October 7, with Lehtme appearing by video link.

At the preliminary hearing, former CEO and current liquidator Anu Viltrop told the court the NGO "has zero euros" in its account.

The trial is scheduled to begin in September 2026.

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