EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Society

Saeima member Igors Pimenovs (Harmony) said he had a telephone conversation with Brice. A police officer had told the woman that a court had issued a warrant for her arrest but refused to inform her about its content, saying that it will be presented to her in court today, February 29.

The British authorities kept Latvian woman under arrest from last Friday to Monday morning without a court ruling or bringing any charges against her, Harmony said.

MP Pimenovs sent the Latvian Embassy in London a letter in which he informed it about the above facts and other circumstances of the incident. The lawmaker asked the diplomatic mission to provide all the possible assistance to Brice to prevent an infringement of her rights.

“The vaguely explained, mysterious arrest involving clear violations of [Brice’s] rights, has dramatically worsened Laila Brice’s already hard situation in which she remains after court rulings concerning her daughter and jeopardizes her health.

Laila Brice’s friends and acquaintances in Riga and London are continuing the campaign in Laila’s support,” Pimenovs said, adding that former British MP and family rights activist John Hemming had described the treatment of Brice as cruel.

Brice has been fighting for the custody of her daughter who was separated from her for violations of child care rules and put up for adoption.

Latvian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raimonds Jansons said that the Latvian Embassy in London has received the MP's letter and is currently establishing the circumstances of Brice's detention. "We are finding out the facts. Mrs. Brice has not contacted the embassy," Jansons said.

The public Latvian Television reported on Monday evening that Brice had been hiding in her home a woman with a four-months old baby and the British authorities thought Brice had information about the woman’s current whereabouts but was keeping it from the authorities.

The United Kingdom's Court of Appeal this past August turned down Brice's appeal over the High Court of Justice's ruling of December 19, 2014, which said that Brice could not object to the adoption of her daughter, she would not be ensured the right to see her daughter, and her case would not be turned over to Latvian courts.

The British media previously reported that Brice was first warned in September 2009 when she was detained by the police at 1 a.m. for being intoxicated while pushing the stroller with her daughter in it. In March 10, the police were called to her apartment by the landlord, where they found the 22-month-old girl alone, very dirty, and obviously uncared-for for a long time. Eventually the matter was reviewed in court, and it was concluded that Brice was unable to properly care for her child.