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Prosecutor's office demands 8-year jail sentence and EUR 64,500 fine for Lembergs

BC, Riga, 07.03.2019.Print version
During proceedings at the Riga Regional Court today, the Prosecutor's Office demanded an eight-year prison sentence, with confiscation of property, and a fine in the amount of 150 minimum monthly wages, or EUR 64,500, for Ventspils Mayor Aivars Lembergs (For Latvia and Ventspils) who stands accused of a number of serious crimes, as the prosecutor on the case Juris Juriss told LETA.

The prosecutor's office also wants Lembergs' son Anrijs Lembergs to be sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison with confiscation of property, and Lembergs' business partner Ansis Sormulis - to seven years in prison, also with confiscation of property, said Juriss.


Lembergs was not physically present at the court session today, but participated via teleconference.


Now the defendants' defense will present their arguments and then the defendants will get the last word, said Juriss. He added that it was hard to say when the trial would come to an end.


Lembergs said in a statement to the media that Juriss, in demanding a jail sentence for Lembergs, was acting on Swiss attorney Rudolf Meroni's instructions and according to politically-motivated orders issued by Justice Minister Janis Bordans (New Conservative Party).


"I would be very surprised if prosecutor Juris Juriss declined this lucrative, politically-motivated deal. I ask everybody - my supporters and naysayers alike - to follow the court proceedings, and they will have opportunity to hear legally and factually substantiated proof that the prosecutor only acts on instructions and is professionally obtuse," Lembergs said in the statement, pledging to "destroy" charges put forward by the prosecutors.


As reported, the prosecutor's office has charged Lembergs with bribe-taking, money laundering, document forgery, exceeding his authority, and other crimes. The other defendants in the case are Lembergs' son and Sormulis.


All three defendants plead not guilty.


The case was handed over to the court by the prosecutor's office in 2008. Riga Regional Court has been reviewing the case since August 2009. Boriss Geimans, Irina Jansone and Ligita Kuzmane are the judges on the case.






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