Of the 66 members of the Riigikogu present in the chamber, 44 voted in favor of lifting parliamentary immunity. Twenty-two MPs did not vote, while Kalle Grünthal was the only member to vote against.

A majority of the full Riigikogu membership — at least 51 votes — is required to strip a member of parliamentary immunity.

At the start of Tuesday's sitting, the Riigikogu voted on a proposal by the chancellor of justice to grant consent to lift the parliamentary immunity of Tõnis Mölder and allow court proceedings against him to continue.

At the end of March, Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise agreed with the Prosecutor's Office proposal to seek consent to lift Tõnis Mölder's parliamentary immunity and to proceed with criminal proceedings against him.

Mölder has been handed a suspicion of soliciting a bribe, agreeing to accept a bribe and committing fraud as a public official. The suspicion relates to so-called Riigikogu protection money, or direct budgetary appropriations MPs can make for regional projects, from November 2022.

MP: Decision as a vote of no confidence in the Prosecutor's Office

Social Democratic Party MP Raimond Kaljulaid wrote on social media that the Riigikogu's decision could be interpreted as a vote of no confidence in the Office of the Prosecutor General.

"As the chancellor of justice emphasized, the Riigikogu is not in a position to review or assess the evidence in the possession of the Prosecutor's Office. So it ultimately comes down to institutional trust, which is entirely separate from the substance of the case.

This Monday — that is, yesterday — we discussed the matter in the parliamentary oversight committee for the security authorities whose session was also attended by the prosecutor general. Without going into details, I did not receive particularly good answers to my questions and it seems to me that several other members of the Riigikogu did not either," Kaljulaid said.

According to Kaljulaid, the Prosecutor's Office has faced long-standing issues, likely influenced by several previous cases.

He added that the question is whether, at the political level, the legal framework is coherent and whether institutions are organized in a way that ensures the justice system as a whole functions effectively.

"We can all see today that the minister of justice is not even close to meeting the demands of the position, but these problems have developed over a much longer period of time," Kaljulaid said.

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