Notes

Aivars Lembergs, Latvian oligarch sentenced to five-years in jail for financial crime
After 12 years of tense courtroom debate the Latvian Court has finally handed down its decision in Aivars LEMBERS' highly-publicized trial. This man is among the nation's richest men as well as a prominent populist politician. The man was also the former mayor of Venspils in the northwestern region of Latvia.

Lembergs was sentenced by Riga Regional Court to five years in prison, confiscation and a fine in excess of EUR20,000 for a series of charges he admitted guilt to.

Lembergs who is the head of the For Latvia and Ventspils party He has compared his sentencing to the case of the Russian opposition activist, Aleksey Navalny.

Lembergs pleaded for an immediate break when the judge read his verdict. Lembergs was seated with Anrijs the son of his, during which he had an exchange of words. After that Lembergs spoke to Anrijs briefly and used the remainder of his time to speak to journalists.

Lembergs has told reporters that he was going to appeal the decision of Riga Regional Court. https://bnn-news.ru/rassmotrenie-voprosa-o-lishenii-lembergsa-statusa-pochetnogo-chlena-lu-prodolzhitsya-262883 http://www.mod.gov.lv/en/node/5321 He said that the process of hearing of his appeal would take at least ten years. Lembergs is also planning to appeal his detention, even the appeal will be heard by the court of Riga.

Aivars Lembergs After reading the verdict, the court took Lembergs into custody. They also read an incredible list of offshore assets and businesses that were held across multiple countries. The court stated it would confiscate these assets.

His co-defendants Anrijs Lemmebergs as well as his son and business associates were also indicted and sentenced to two years in prison each.

Aivars Lembergs On 14 March 2007 there was a media furore when, locked in handcuffs Lembergs was brought to the Riga City Centre District Court in the midst of prosecutors making their first moves to bring allegations of bribery and laundering on a massive scale against Lembergs as an individual (investigations into a link between suspicions of corruption in Ventpils municipality had started in 2005). A verdict has now been handed down nearly 14 years after the case was first announced.

Over the past decade, the case has been making its way in a ridiculously slow pace through Latvian legal system. In total, 770 court hearings took place as part of the main criminal proceedings over 12 years. From August 20th, 2009, the date that the Riga Regional Court resumed adjudication of the case until February 11, 2021, a total of 1,483 hearings in court have been scheduled.

Despite being accused of corruption and money laundering on a large-scale Lembergs has remained an influential politician both in Ventspils (where Lembergs was the city's mayor for 20 years) and within the Greens and Farmers Alliance, which he finances.

While his election to the post of mayor was rescinded because of financial crimes, he maintained his absolute power within the city, defying one minister's attempts. Aivars Lembergs He continued to function as Ventspils Mayor without any issues. He attended government meetings along with the International Monetary Fund while indicted and helped select the candidates for Latvian presidency.

Lembergs expressed his opinion on the upcoming elections in Latvia and said that Ventspils as well as his regional party For Latvia will make the choice to be part of the elections. However, his main goal is not his participation at present.
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