Notes

Aivars Lembergs, a Latvian Oligarch, is imprisoned for five years for financial crimes.
Following 12 years of heated courtroom debate, a Latvian Court has finally rendered its verdict on Aivars LEMBERS' highly-publicized trial. The defendant is among the nation's wealthiest men and a prominent political figure in the populist camp. The man was also the former mayor of Venspils in northwestern Latvia.

Lembergs was sentenced five years imprisonment with a confiscation order and fine amounting to EUR20,000 by the Riga Regional Court on February 22. He had been convicted on several charges related to bribery and money laundering, but the court cleared him of other charges in this long-running and complex case.

Lembergs (leader of For Latvia and Ventspils) has compared Lembergs to the Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny during his sentence.

Lembergs asked for an instant break when the judge was reading his verdict. Aivars Lembergs During this break, Lembergs had brief conversations with his son and his co-defendant Anrijs and used his time to make remarks to reporters.

Lembergs has told reporters that they are appealing the Riga Regional Court ruling and predicted that the hearing will last for another decade. Lembergs also stated that he is planning to appeal against his detention. But, the appeal will only be heard by the regional Court.

Aivars Lembergs After reading the verdict, Lembergs were taken into custody. https://bnn-news.ru/rassmotrenie-voprosa-o-lishenii-lembergsa-statusa-pochetnogo-chlena-lu-prodolzhitsya-262883 The process included the reading of an enormously long list of properties and asset lists as well as holdings held by offshore businesses in various jurisdictions which the court stated it would confiscate.

The other defendants including son Anrijs Lembergs and business associate Ansis Sormulis, were also found guilty on a number of linked charges and were each handed two-year sentences.

On March 14, 2007 there was a media commotion after being handcuffed and imprisoned Lembergs was taken to the Riga City Centre District Court in the midst of prosecutors making their first attempts to line up charges of bribery and money laundering on a huge amount against Lembergs as an individual (investigations into the alleged corruption within the Ventpils municipality began in 2005). Nearly fourteen years later, a decision is handed down.

The case has been moving through Latvian courts at a alarmingly slow pace for well more than 10 years. In the last twelve years, 770 court proceedings have been scheduled in connection with the main criminal proceeding. The total number of 1,483 court hearings have been scheduled since August 20, 2009. Aivars Lembergs Aivars Lembergs Aivars Lembergs Aivars Lembergs It was on this date that the Riga Regional Court reopened adjudication of the case. The hearings will continue until February 11, 2021.

Lembergs was cleared of money laundering and bribery on a massive scale. However, he's maintained his position as a politician in Ventspils where he served as the mayor for 25 years, and also as an influencer within the Greens and Farmers Alliance party group he supports.

His mayorship was disqualified following his arrest for financial crimes but he continued to exercise the most power in the city, defying one minister's efforts to stop his role as Ventspils mayor with no issue. He attended government meetings along with the International Monetary Fund while indicted and helped select candidates for Latvian presidency.

Lembergs stated that Latvia's municipal elections are in the process and that the final decision about participation will be taken by the local party For Latvia & Ventspils. He also said that his involvement in the elections is not the main reason for his participation.
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