Savisaar to sue former PMs

  • 2005-10-02
TALLINN - Edgar Savisaar said he would sue the three former prime ministers who criticized him in the current pre-electoral period.

The Eesti Paevaleht daily reported that Savisaar, who is the minister of economy and chairman of the Center Party, one of the country's most popular political formations, has said that the three PMs damaged his reputation by claiming that the price of his summer house in Keila-Joa had been set by himself at 166,000 euros.

"I am preparing a suit in that issue against authors of the slander," Savisaar declared. "As I am right and they lie, there is no doubt what the court case will lead to in a couple of years."

Savisaar said the house cost 500,000 kroons, but the cost of access to technical infrastructure in the property, of 70,000 kroons, and his holding in the port company, of 150,000 kroons, could be added. "The total cost of the property could be quoted at 720,000 kroons, far from 2.6 million" used by the three former prime ministers - Mart Laar, Juhan Parts and Andres Tarand - in their letter to Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. The three asked Ansip to fire Savisaar, but the former declined to take any action.