Laar solidifies patriotic stance

TALLINN - Estonian Defense Minister Mart Laar wrote in an e-mail after the shooting that took place in the ministry recently that those who attack the Estonian state should be shot to death, reports Eesti Paevaleht. “Attackers of the Estonian state will be shot to death, and I guarantee that for the future,” Laar wrote in the Estonian Students Society internal mail list.
The statement was considered shocking by some politicians the newspaper asked for a comment from.

Laar said in a response to the daily that he is perplexed about the daily raising the issue. He said that this statement comes from a private letter and the statement was taken out of context. The defense minister said that he continues to value constitutional order and separation of powers and sticks to them. He said that he as the defense minister did not, and could not, have given orders during a police operation: in the shooting incident, the police operation was headed by the head of the operation, who coped with his task very well.

Karen Drambjan entered the Estonian Defense Ministry building in central Tallinn on Aug. 11, heavily armed and, without making any demands, fired his gun and threw explosion simulation devices. After a two-hour stand-off, Drambjan was killed in a shootout with the police.