EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Society

"The disciplinary investigation commission found, after an objective and thorough analysis of all facts available to it, that Strike was absent from work for a lengthy period of time without the bureau's consent or permission, thereby systematically and violating requirements laid down in the Corruption Prevention Bureau's Code of Conduct for an extended period of time," the bureau said last August.

Strike said she was going to file an appeal against the decision by the Administrative District Court rejecting her complain about her dismissal from the Corruption Prevention Bureau.

"I will definitely file an appeal," she said. A mistake by one Administrative Court judge is not the end of the world because even criminal court judges make mistakes, she said, adding that apparently the judge in charge of her case had failed to make heads or tails of the mess created by the Corruption Prevention Bureau.

Today Strike also declined comments on the possibility of her joining the New Conservative Party led by former Latvian justice minister Janis Bordans, saying she needed time to make up her mind. The former head of the KNAB's Criminal Intelligence Process Division, Juris Jurass, recently joined the New Conservative Party, and the public Latvian Television reported earlier that the party hoped to bring to its ranks also Strike. At the time Strike said she had been approached by several political parties but she would wait for February 6 when the court was scheduled to make its verdict concerning her latest complaint about her dismissal from the KNAB.

Strike is not the only former Corruption Prevention Bureau who has contested her dismissal - similar claims have also been filed by Juris Jurass, former head of the Corruption Prevention Bureau's Criminal Intelligence Process Division, and former head of the Investigation Department, Lienite Sikore.

The three were dismissed after a reorganization at the Corruption Prevention Bureau, when a special commission set up then head of the bureau, Jaroslavs Strelcenoks, concluded that their professional qualifications and experience did not match any of the positions set up following the reorganization of the bureau. Jurass' deputy Martins Lode was also dismissed as a result of the reorganization.

Strelcenoks signed a decree dismissing Strike, a long-time senior employee at the Corruption Prevention Bureau, last summer.