Corruption, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation

The former mayor of Jurmala, Raimonds Munkevics, and the former municipal official, Normunds Pirants, were accused of offering a bribe of some EUR 7,000 to one of Jurmala's councilors for helping Munkevics to survive the no-confidence vote proposed by the opposition in the Jurmala local council.

The Riga City Kurzeme District Court ruled that Munkevics should be fined EUR 49,950 and Pirants EUR 47,360. Moreover, both have been banned from taking any public or municipal offices for a period of three years.

The prosecution wanted the court to sentence Munkevics to five years in jail and Pirants to four years in jail with confiscation of property and a three-year ban on public or municipal offices for both.

Pirants and Munkevics were detained on May 18, 2010 , but were released against large bails (EUR 71,000 and EUR 57,000 respectively) in fall the same year.

In early 2014, the Jurmala Court sentenced Munkevics to four years in prison with confiscation of property and Pirants got three years in jail, also with confiscation of property. The defendants filed an appeal, and the Riga Regional Court in September 2014 ruled that a repeated trial should be held but in a different court.