Estonian court rules lawsuit against Äripäev newspaper to be a 'gagging writ' — an attempt at silencing

Paradoxically, the data deletion lawsuit itself triggered an investigation that uncovered several identities behind the businessman with an international reach. Journalists established that in the past he had been punished for money laundering and used so-called 'clone banks' to swindle people out of their money.

According to the publication, the businessman, who uses passports under different names, has, like a spider, spun a web spanning numerous countries. Through this network, Äripäev writes, money is extracted from gullible citizens and then laundered through various channels.

Äripäev's lawyer Karmen Turk (Karmen Turk) commented to the newspaper. She explained how the court may proceed in such disputes. The full content of the comments and the circumstances on the basis of which the court concluded that businessman Marcus Nilsson's (Marcus Nilsson) lawsuit against Äripäev was of a SLAPP nature is set out in an article available to the publication's subscribers.

The case is notable for the entire Baltic business press: it establishes practice for countering so-called 'gagging suits', where individuals mentioned in investigations try to achieve the removal of archived publications through the courts. In this case, the Estonian court sided with the media, ordering the plaintiff to compensate in advance the defendant's expected legal costs.

The article was updated on 07.09.2026.