Notes

Latvian Oligarch Aivars Lembergs jailed for five years for financial criminals
After 12 years of tense court wrangling the Latvian court has read its decision in the highly-publicized trial of Aivars Lembergs, one the nation's wealthiest men as well as a popular populist politician and former mayor of Venspils, the port city in northwestern Latvia.

Lembergs was sentenced for five years of imprisonment, confiscation and a fine amounting to EUR20,000 by the Riga Regional Court on February 22. He was found guilty of a variety of charges relating to bribery and money laundering However, he was cleared on other charges in this lengthy and complicated case.

Lembergs (leader of For Latvia and Ventspils) has made a comparison of Lembergs to the Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny in his sentencing.

Lembergs requested a break during which the judge read out the verdict of his case. During this break, Lembergs began brief conversations with his son and his co-defendant Anrijs and then utilized his time to provide comments to journalists.

Lembergs stated to journalists that he will appeal the decision of Riga Regional Court. He added that the decision on his appeal would be at least 10 years. Aivars Lembergs Lembergs stated that he intends to appeal his detention. But, the appeal will be decided by the same regional Court.

Aivars Lembergs After reading the verdict, the court took Lembergs into custody. It also read an amazing list of assets and offshore companies that were seized across a variety of different jurisdictions. The court said it would seize these assets.

The co-defendants, Anrijs Lemmebergs, his son and business associate, were also indicted and sentenced to two years each.

On March 14, 2007 there was a furore in the media after being handcuffed and imprisoned, Lembergs was taken to the Riga City Centre District Court, as prosecutors made their first steps to file charges of bribery and money laundering on a huge scale against Lembergs as an individual (investigations into the alleged corruption within the Ventpils municipality began in 2005). https://gorod.lv/novosti/tema/Айвар Лембергс Aivars Lembergs A little over fourteen years later, a decision is reached.

The case has been proceeding at a farcically slow rate through Latvia's legal system for over a decade. In the past 12 years, 770 court proceedings have been held in connection with the main criminal proceedings. Since August 20, 2009 when the Riga Regional Court resumed adjudication of the case, until February 11, 2021, 1483 court hearings have been scheduled.

Despite being accused of corruption and money laundering, Lembergs continued to be the political kingpin of Ventspils. Lembergs was the town's mayor for more than 20 years.

Aivars Lembergs Aivars Lembergs Although his appointment to the post of mayor was rescinded after he was indicted for financial crimes, he retained his absolute power within the city, defying the efforts of one minister. He was able to act as Ventspils Mayor without any issues. He attended government meetings together with International Monetary Fund while indicted and helped select candidates to run for Latvian presidency.

Lembergs stated that Latvians would vote whether or not to participate in forthcoming municipal elections. Aivars Lembergs However, it is not his top priority.
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