Notes

Aivars Lembergs of Latvia, an oligarch and financial criminal, was sentenced to five years in prison.
After 12 years of heated court wranglings the Latvian judge has delivered his decision in the highly-publicized case of Aivars Leonbergs. Aivars was one of the nation's most wealthy men and a prominent populist political politician. He was also mayor of Venspils the port city located in the northwest of Latvia.

On February 22, Riga Regional Court sentenced Lembergs to five years in prison as well as confiscation of his property and a fine of $20,000 for concluding that he was guilty of a number of charges relating to money laundering and bribery, while acquitting him on some other charges in the complex and long-running investigation.

Lembergs leader, who is a member of the For Latvian party and Ventspils, has compared Lembergs sentencing to the opposition Russian fighter Aleksey Nilny.

As the judge was reading the verdict in his case, Lembergs asked for a brief break and was granted him. During this break, Lembergs began a brief conversation with his son and co-defendant Anrijs and then used the rest of the time to provide remarks to reporters.

Lembergs has told journalists that he would appeal against the decision of Riga Regional Court and predicted that the hearing of the appeal will take another 10 years. Aivars Lembergs Lembergs also plans to appeal his arrest, even though his appeal will be handled by the same court.

https://www.db.lv/zinas/aivars-lembergs-pern-guvis-ienakumus-309-tukstosu-eiro-apmera-414452 After having read the judgement and examining it again, the court ruled that the Lembergs' would be taken into custody.

His co-defendants Anrijs Lemmebergs as well as his son and business associates were also indicted and sentenced to a maximum of two years.

On the 14th of March 2007, there was a furore in the media when, locked in handcuffs, Lembergs was taken to the Riga City Centre District Court in the midst of prosecutors making their first attempts to file allegations of bribery and laundering on a massive magnitude against him as an individual (investigations into a link between suspicions of corruption in Ventpils municipality had started in 2005). A verdict was reached more than 14 years after the event.

Aivars Lembergs The case has been progressing at a farcically slow rate in Latvia's legal system for more than a decade. In connection with the primary criminal proceedings there were 770 court hearings that took place over 12 years. Since August 20, 2009, when the Riga Regional Court resumed adjudication of the case, until February 11, 2021, a total of 1,483 hearings in court have been scheduled.

Lembergs was found not guilty of bribery and money laundering at a high level. But, he has maintained his position as a politician in Ventspils which he served as mayor for 25 years and also as an influencer in the Greens and Farmers Alliance party organization he finances.

Aivars Lembergs The mayor's election was disqualified because he was accused of financial fraud. However, he maintained his power in the city, fighting off an attempt by a minister for him to be barred from serving as Ventspils president. Indicted, he took part in the meetings of the government together with the International Monetary Fund and helped to select candidates for the Latvian presidency.

Aivars Lembergs Lembergs stated that Latvia's municipal elections have been delayed and the final decision on participation will be made by the local party For Latvia & Ventspils. However, he said that his vote is not the main reason for his participation.
Here's my website: https://gorod.lv/novosti/tema/Айвар Лембергс