The story first appeared on the social media page of tech entrepreneur Karoli Hindriks, who says she is a friend of Jordan's, and in the media soon afterwards, in November 2018. Ms Hindriks recounted how a 49-year-old American friend of hers had been the subject of an attack where two Estonian men threw rocks at her and her dog, injuring both, and demanded that she return home to where she came from. Jordan had been talking on her mobile at the time, in the Stroomi Beach area of North Tallinn, Ms Hindriks wrote, without naming her friend, and that the latter went to the police following Ms Hindriks posting of the story on social media.

On Tuesday the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) stated that whilst the victim had reported the incident to them, there was no evidence that she was in the Stroomi Beach at the time of the purported attack, or that it had happened at all. The investigation included witness statements, mobile phone analysis, security camera analysis and interviews with the victim.

On Wednesday, the person concerned was named as Mary Jordan, who has issued a statement via online news portal Delfi.

Jordan, who is herself now reportedly the subject of a PPA investigation, on the grounds of providing misleading information, stated that she could not understand on what grounds the criminal investigation into the incident had been dropped and that she now was subject to scrutiny.

Timing regarding elections complicates matters

''This puts us [ie. Jordan and her husband, Eerik-Niiles Kross, who is running for the Reform Party in the March election-ed.] in a sitation where we cannot comment in detail on the matter. As the investigation continues, we will be able to provide more clarification to the media via my lawyer,'' the statement read.

''This is an attack on my person that has nothing to do with my husband or with any other political actor in Estonia. But this does not nullify things; the claims to the contrary [ie. of Jordan's original claims-ed.] are mystifying to me,'' the statement continued.

The statement went on to suggest that both the Estonian media and the PPA take a more sympathetic stance towards the victims of attacks, whilst thanking the PPA for the the investigation into the matter so far.

Mary Jordan, 49, grew up in New York and Toronto, and is an award-winning filmmaker. In 2005, she was nominated by Filmmaker magazine as one of the ''25 new faces of independent film-making''. She founded Word Above the Street, a not-for-profit, in 2010, and after a trip to Ethiopia, started the Water Tank Project, aimed at highlighting the challenges brought by water scarcity, a topic she also covered in a 2014 TEDx talk in Tallinn. She married Eerik-Niiles Kross, son of Estonian writer Jaan Kross, in 2011.

ERR has attempted to reach Jordan and her husband, Eerik-Niiles Kross, but neither has been available for comment at the time of writing.

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