Businessmen suspected of making illegal donations to Isamaa party
Isamaa members and businessmen Tõnis Palts and Parvel Pruunsild were handed suspicions Tuesday of making a prohibited donation to the party, their lawyers confirmed.
The exact nature of the suspicion has not yet been disclosed, but it relates to the period in 2021 when Helir-Valdor Seeder and Lavly Perling were both running for the position of Isamaa party chair.
Perling, along with her ideological allies, had formed a faction within the party called Parempoolsed ("The Right-Wingers"), while Seeder's more ardent supporters rallied around the NGO Isamaalised. The latter was actively backed by Parvel Pruunsild, who has been a member of Isamaa since October 28, 1999. Tõnis Palts served as CEO of the Isamaalised NGO.
Perling lost the leadership vote to Seeder, receiving 367 votes to his 784. She was later expelled from the party along with her allies — Siim Kiisler, Kristjan Vanaselja and Tõnis Kons — and the group went on to found the Parempoolsed political party.
Pruunsild has repeatedly claimed in the media, most recently on Monday, that Perling is behind the case. As a former prosecutor general, he argues, she still holds sway over Estonia's law enforcement agencies. Perling has denied the allegation.
Last week, Isamaa Secretary General Andres Metsoja said he had been summoned by the Central Criminal Police for the following Tuesday, when the party was expected to be formally suspected in connection with alleged illegal funding. The Prosecutor's Office has confirmed its intention to bring the charges.
According to the Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee's database, Pruunsild has donated a total of €2,378,000 to Isamaa since 2016. His largest single contribution came in 2023, the year of the Riigikogu elections, when he donated €700,000.
--
Editor: Urmet Kook, Indrek Kiisler, Marcus Turovski
