Aftermath of The Bronze Night - Law Enforcement Response

Law Enforcement Response

The police are treating the riots as disorderly conduct (a misdemeanor under Estonian law) or severe disorderly conduct committed in a group (a felony under Estonian law), depending on the circumstances of any particular incident, and are proceeding accordingly. About 1,000 suspected rioters were arrested. Acts of vandalism and looting are treated separately, and processed as criminal incidents separate from the rioting.

Three men (Dmitri Linter, Maksim Reva and an 18-year old school boy Mark Sirõk)have been detained under a court order for up to 6 months, pending investigation of the suspicion of organising riots (a felony under Estonian law punishable of imprisonment of up to 5 years). There were concerns about the health of Mark Sirõ, who has Haemophilia, but his attorney stated that he had no complaints.

Since the riots took place in the centre of the city, after hours of tension, many thousands of frames of photographic and video material of the events are available, both from journalists and security cameras and from witnesses among general public (who usually used cellphone cameras). The police have gathered a number of such photographs depicting unidentified suspects on a website at Identification of Persons (not available from outside Estonia while a foreign DDoS attack on Estonian government servers is underway) and asked the public to identify such unidentified people.

The police have also called for rioters and looters to turn themselves in voluntarily. Aiding law enforcement in investigating one's own unlawful acts, including turning oneself in before an arrest warrant has been issued, is considered a meritorious deed and grounds for lessening punishment under Estonian law.

218 out of almost 300 vandals, who were arrested during events on 26.–28. April, had a previous criminal record. Among their previous crimes are 45 drug-related violations, 91 larcenies and 18 robberies.