Silver Meikar (born February 12, 1978) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing cam ...

, a freelance journalist and founder of the Estonian Institute of Digital Rights. Silver Meikar was a member of the parliament of Estonia -

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Just ...

in 2003-2004 and 2006-2011 in the

Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party ( et, Eesti Reformierakond) is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kaja Kallas since 2018. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party" ( et, Oravapartei). It was founded in 1994 by Sii ...

faction. Silver Meikar was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

and received the basic and secondary school education in Tartu

Miina Härma Gymnasium Miina Härma Gymnasium (; abbreviated as MHG) is an institution composed of a primary school and a secondary school in Tartu, Estonia. The school holds a special emphasis on languages. Miina Härma Gymnasium is an IB World School offering the Dip ...

. He graduated from the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

with a degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

in 2005. He served as a member of Tartu City Council in 1999 - 2002 and 2005 - 2006. In 2003 Silver Meikar became a substitute member of the parliament of Estonia as Margus Hanson became the minister of defence. Silver Meikar was set up as a candidate to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

in 2004. He lost his seat in Riigikogu as Margus Hanson was dismissed in November 2004 due to the theft of classified documents from his home. Silver Meikar re-gained his seat on November 23, 2006 as Margus Hanson was convicted for leaking state-classified data. Silver Meikar was re-elected to Riigikogu on March 4, 2007 and he served throughout his mandate as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He became notable with political activities that encompass defending the

Human rights in Belarus The government of Belarus is criticized for its human rights violations and persecution of non-governmental organisations, independent journalists, national minorities, and opposition politicians. In a testimony to the United States Senate Com ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

and elsewhere, drawing attention to the difficult situation in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

and supporting the reform process in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He has also been advocating for the respect of

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties ma ...

in Estonia. Silver Meikar has been the protagonist of

electronic voting Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting ballots. Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone ''electronic voting machines'' ( ...

and

e-democracy E-democracy (a combination of the words electronic and democracy), also known as digital democracy or Internet democracy, is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in political and governance processes. The term is bel ...

in Estonia. He was the first Estonian politician to create a persona
weblog
Silver Meikar was a member of the

AWEPA The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) is an international parliamentary association that is strictly non-partisan, founded by European parliamentarians in 1984. In cooperation with African parliaments, AWEPA works to st ...

br>governing council
in 2009-2011. He was a member of the bureau of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

in 2008-2011. In May 2012 Meikar published an article, admitting that he had donated cash to Estonian Reform Party in 2009 and 2010, coming from unknown sources and given him by co-politician Kalev Lillo, according to a proposition made by

Kristen Michal Kristen Michal (born 12 July 1975) is an Estonian politician. member of the Estonian Reform Party, he was the minister of economic affairs and infrastructure in Taavi Rõivas' cabinet between 9 April 2015 and 22 November 2016. Previously, M ...

, Reform Party's secretary general.Silver Meika
''Silver Meikar: erakondade rahastamisest. Ausalt''
Postimees, May 22, 2012 (in Estonian) The scandal became known as ''Silvergate''. Lillo and Michal were presented with criminal charges. After a long and heated discussion in media, charges were dropped, as it was not possible to gather enough evidence. On October 24, 2012, Meikar was expelled from the party.''Meikar visati Reformierakonnast välja''
ERR, October 24, 2012 (in Estonian) Consequently, Kristen Michal stepped down as the minister of justice. In 2006 Silver Meikar published the book ''The Diary of the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

''
"Oranži revolutsiooni päevik"
in Estonian) on the events in Ukraine from November 2004 to January 2005 when he was one of the observers of the presidential elections in Ukraine and later on a participant in the Orange Revolution. His book ''Political Malaria. A View from Burma'' ("Poliitmalaaria. Pilk Birmast" in Estonian), discussing politics, culture and political culture, was published in 2013. In the book Silver Meikar is travelling in Burma, while unravelling the events that had taken place in the Estonian politics in previous years. He published an article i
"Russian Federation 2011: short-term prognosis"
of the Academic Center for Baltic and Russian Studies on the relations between Belarus and

. He has published numerous articles in the Estonian media and is a regular contributor to Estonian daily newspapers ''

Postimees ''Postimees'' () is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 ...

'', ''

Eesti Päevaleht ''Eesti Päevaleht'' ''("Estonia Daily")'' is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly ''Eesti Ekspress''. It has a daily circulation of around 36,000. History and profile ''Eesti Päevaleht'' was founded on 5 Jun ...

'' and the weekly ''

Sirp ''Sirp'' (English 'sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chi ...

''. Since December 2013 Silver Meikar has been covering the events of

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhno ...

and its aftermath in Ukraine. He has contributed to ''Reporter'' of Kanal 2 and Eesti Päevaleht/ Delfi (web portal), while following the situation in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

and cities of

Eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khar ...

unfolding on the spot. The

President of Estonia The president of the Republic of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi President) is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is on ...

br>awarded Silver Meikar
with the Order of the White Star, 4th class, in 2012 for standing consistently for human rights, civil liberties,

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...

and the principles of a state based on the rule of law. Silver Meikar is married and has 2 sons.

References

External links

Silver Meikar's web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meikar, Silver 1978 births Living people Miina Härma Gymnasium alumni University of Tartu alumni Politicians from Tartu Estonian non-fiction writers Estonian Reform Party politicians 21st-century Estonian politicians Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class Members of the Riigikogu, 2003–2007 Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011