Dropping Charges in Domestic Violence Case Marks Dangerous Trend

Apr 28, 2011 |

The prosecution dropped the charges before sentence was passed, asserting that the second-degree criminal offense was insignificant and the proceedings had dragged on for an unreasonably long time. Nor was there a public interest in the family conflict, the prosecution said.

Sociologist Iris Pettai called the move reactionary. The case reflects a dangerous trend in the Estonian society's attitude, Pettai told uudised.err.ee , giving the message that the state does not care if violence is used to settle family disputes.

 "Just 10 years ago, the prosecutors and courts believed that cases of so-called reasonable domestic violence, in which the victim was not crippled or beaten to death, were a family matter in which the state should not interfere," said Pettai.

When the Open Estonia Foundation was compiling a report on domestic violence in 2001, interviews with prosecutors and courts, Pettai said, revealed that the common position was that violence at home could not be measured in the same way as violence in a public place. "It seemed that this attitude had dissipated in the meantime, but [the Kuldmäe case] clearly demonstrates that the old attitudes and mentalities are back," said Pettai. "To the victim, it is a message that there is no point in looking for help from the state. They must bear it or find some kind of solution. We all know that there are not few women in Harku Prison who killed their men after suffering to the final point of domestic violence."

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