The circuit court's criminal chamber upheld the lower court's ruling, finding that there was no basis to accuse Tartu Deputy Mayor Priit Humal of violating restrictions on official actions, nor to accuse businessman Parvel Pruunsild of aiding in such a violation.

The circuit court modified the lower court's decision regarding the admissibility of one piece of prosecution evidence, ruling that the evidence was inadmissible. The evidence involved an inquiry by the Internal Security Service (ISS) to a telecommunications company, aimed at gaining access to Humal's email inbox.

The chamber concluded that collecting the content of emails from a service provider via a basic inquiry is not lawful, as it constitutes a significant violation of an individual's privacy of correspondence.

Prosecutors had accused Humal of breaching restrictions on official actions and Pruunsild of aiding in the same offense. The charges stemmed from the sale of the former exhibition building of the Estonian National Museum (ERM) to the student corporation Sakala, of which Pruunsild is a member.

According to the prosecution, Humal, then serving as deputy mayor, took part in activities and decisions by the Tartu city government concerning the relinquishment of rights to a property at J. Kuperjanovi tänav 9 in Tartu. This in turn enabled State Real Estate Ltd. (Riigi Kinnisvara AS) to place the property up for public auction.

The prosecution argued that these actions were driven by Pruunsild's personal interest in creating an opportunity for the student corporation he was associated with to acquire the property from State Real Estate Ltd. Humal's participation in discussions and decisions regarding the property was prohibited by restrictions on official actions, as he was a person connected to Pruunsild and was also aware that the decision would benefit Pruunsild.

The prosecution now has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

Pruunsild: ISS conduct reminiscent of the KGB

Commenting on the circuit court's ruling, Parvel Pruunsild described the charges as a "first-rate scam" from the very beginning and said that the wider problem is that the Estonian state lacks control over the ISS and the Prosecutor's Office.

"It was clear from the start that this whole ERM matter was never actually intended to result in anyone being convicted. It was ridiculous, really. And I would say that the people who carried out searches in my children's bedrooms, in the chicken coop, in the greenhouse and in the sauna should be held accountable in some way," Pruunsild said.

What bothers Pruunsild the most, he said, is the impunity of ISS and prosecution officials.

"If I ask them, on a purely human level, what they are looking for and how they are searching, they just stare at me blankly. These people also have families and relatives at home. Do they not realize that, in a way, they are like part of some kind of KGB or that they are in fact components of a coercive apparatus that is really just harassing honest and ordinary people?" Pruunsild said.

The businessman suggested that the ongoing investigation into funding for the Isamaa party is yet another attempt by the ISS and the Prosecutor's Office to access his data. He also blamed former Prosecutor General Lavly Perling for orchestrating it.

Perling and the Prosecutor's Office have refuted all such accusations in the past.

Priit Humal also said that, in his view, the prosecution's aim with the charges was to gain access to Pruunsild's computer, correspondence and other personal documents.

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