The trial of the main opposition force, the Center Party, for influence peddling in a large-scale real estate project, for which its former secretary general, Mikhail Korb, will also be tried, began this Friday in Estonia.
This is a macro trial that is expected to last about a year. The final hearing has been initially set for August 2023 and the final verdict for the autumn months of the same year, reports public broadcaster ERR.
Korb said he is «glad» and «happy» that a trial has begun, which will serve, he said, to «vindicate» himself in the eyes of the public. «I will be able to express my views and give my vision of the facts,» he has said.
The former secretary general of the current main opposition force has acknowledged the links with another of the accused, the businessman Hillar Teder, although he has clarified that this relationship was always developed through legal channels.
«It cannot be said that we did not communicate, of course we communicated. We talked about many things, politics, his business, the future, the future of the world, the future of the country (…) We talked about important things. I think the court is going to reveal to a large extent what we were talking about,» he said.
The investigation centers on a large-scale real estate project in the port area of Tallinn, the capital, for which Korb allegedly used his personal influence as well as that of his party on local authorities in the interests of the businessman and his company in exchange for a generous donation for its formation.
Before these accusations about his formation, Juri Ratas resigned as prime minister in January 2021 and thereby ended the Center Party’s participation in the coalition government. After a brief reinstatement, he has been in the opposition since July 2022.
