Latvia, Legislation

Representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office would not comment whether Latvia has already requested Stabina’s extradition, but the proceedings mentioned by her lawyer might mean that the Egyptian authorities had decided to turn Stabina over to Latvia and Stabina appealed that decision. If Egypt agrees to extradite Stabina, she will be brought to Latvia by the State Police, whose representatives would not give detailed comments for now.

Police representative Gita Gzibovska told Latvian Television that “according to information obtained by the State Police, Stabina has been detained in Egypt by Egyptian authorities, but not because she features on the international list of wanted criminals”. That means that Stabina herself had somehow attracted the Egyptian authorities’ attention.

As reported, in September 2012, the Latvian Corruption Prevention Bureau informed that it was probing Stabina, head of the housing administration of the Riga City Council Housing and Environment Department, for graft. Stabina had allegedly been accepting bribes in return for manipulating waiting lines for municipal housing.

After the law enforcement authorities decided to launch a criminal prosecution against Stabina, she disappeared in 2013. A year after her disappearance she was put on the international list of wanted criminals.