The sentence given to infamous Ventspils City Council deputy [and ex-mayor] Aivars Lembergs is inadequate, said the prosecutor in charge of the so-called Lembergs criminal case Aivis Zalužinskis.
The prosecution will likely submit a cassation protest over the verdict announced by the court of appeal instance on Wednesday, the 27th of September.
“As for the sentences, they are inadequate, because we believe it is clear the sentence should be harsher. At the very least because of the extent of the crime – laundering an amount of illegally obtained funds
worth nearly seven million euros.
Lembergs was sentenced to three years in prison for this alone, whereas his entire sentence is only four years,” stressed the prosecutor.
This sentence, according to Zalužinskis, is inadequate, considering the total length of the ongoing trial. In debates the prosecution requested an eight-year prison sentence for Lembergs, as well as a fine. More severe sentences were requested for Lembergs’ son Anrijs Lembergs and his one-time business partner Ansis Sormulis.
The prosecutor is also unhappy with the court’s decision to give Lembergs acquittal in multiple charges.
When criminal charges were first presented it was clear that a state official is not allowed to make decisions in a conflict of interests, the prosecutor said. According to him, Aivars Lembergs is accused of making decisions in regards to legal persons the prosecution believes were in his and his children’s interests. If this is not a crime, then it is unclear if it is even possible any official can be held accountable at all for making decisions while in a conflict of interests, said Zalužinskis.
Lembergs was acquitted by a court of first instance in regards to the conflict of interest. The court of law may have taken into account one of the verdicts of the Supreme Court of Law, in which it was ruled that state officials are not required to declare ownership rights that are not registered in the Commercial Register of Latvia.
“They say the accused Aivars Lembergs didn’t have to register anything because, you see, his name and surname are not even found in the Commercial Register.
This is another signal to any state official
that they can found businesses, operate and gain wealth, but the only thing they shouldn’t do is register those businesses on their name. Instead they should register them on other people’s names. We are confused as to why the court decided to confiscate capital shares of legal persons registered abroad while still believing that it was not necessary to register them in the first place,” the prosecutor stresses.
According to the prosecutor, Aivars Lembergs was found guilty of bribe extortion, money laundering, forgery of service and participation in an unauthorized property transaction. Aivars Lembergs was acquitted in charges of non-declaration of ownership and document forgery.
Zalužinskis confidently predicts the prosecution office will submit a cassation protest. However, it is not possible to appeal against the penalty if there was no violation of rules and regulations.
As previously reported, on Wednesday, the 27th of September, Riga Regional Court as a court of appeal instance sentenced ex-Mayor of Ventspils Aivars Lembergs guilty of numerous crimes of corruption. However, his prison sentence was shortened by one year.
The court sentenced him to four years in prison and confiscation of property. The court of appeal – like the court of first instance – decided to deduct from Lembergs’ prison sentence the time he had previously spent under arrest and house arrest (approximately 700 days).
If this verdict comes into effect, Lembergs will have to spend only approximately half of the sentence in prison. He may also be eligible for an early release. Lembergs was also acquitted of multiple criminal charges.
Aivars Lembergs’ son Anrijs Lembergs was sentenced to a shortened prison sentence as well (one year and 11 months in prison). Like his father, Anrijs Lembergs was sentenced to confiscation of property. Ansis Sormulis was sentenced to one year and nine months and prison. Like Aivars and Anrijs Lembergs, he too was sentenced to confiscation of freedom.
Lembergs and the two other accused listened to the reading of the verdict online, as the trial was held using a video conference. Lembergs watched from Kurzeme District Courthouse in Ventspils.
The full text of the verdict will become available on the 11th of October.
Riga Regional Court started viewing this criminal case as a court of first instance in 2009.
Also read: Court’s ruling in “Lembergs criminal case” unlikely to come into force soon