The Minister of Justice of Estonia does not see a crime in the publication of his party member about the demolition of an Orthodox church in Tallinn

Member of the Estonian Parliament Mario Kadastic proposed to demolish the Orthodox church in honor of Alexander Nevsky, saying «remove this ugliness» from the resting place of the deputies and guests of the city. After that, another deputy, Alexander Chaplygin, turned to the Ministry of Justice with a demand to check the words of Kadastic for inciting discord and hatred.

But Minister of Justice Kalle Laanet (Reform Party) did not see a crime in the publication of his fellow party member, a source told err.ee.

«In my opinion, the proposal of Mario Kadastic does not incite religious hatred, because in his publication there is no call for hatred, violence or discrimination based on someone’s nationality or religion,» commented Kalle Laanet.

According to him, not every critical point of view can be equated with hate speech.

“The constitution also provides for freedom of expression, which is often referred to more narrowly as freedom of speech. And freedom of speech also protects statements that may be critical or may cause outrage among some members of society, but which do not amount to hate speech,” the minister added.