The State Police is examining the statement of the Latvian citizen and billionaire Pjotrs Avens requesting to initiate criminal proceedings against Minister of Foreign Affairs Baiba Braže for libel. Simultaneously a civil lawsuit is being prepared against B. Braže for intentional denigration of P. Avens’ honour and dignity. According to information available to BNN, internationally renowned lawyers are involved in preparing this lawsuit.
The Criminal Intelligence Division of the Main Criminal Police Department of the State Police is continuing to investigate the facts mentioned in P. Avens’ statement regarding B. Braže’s remarks made to the newspaper Diena, in which P. Avens is referred to as Putin’s private banker and the following allegation was made: “It is Putin’s money they are laundering”.
In early July, Pjotrs Avens’ representatives issued a press release stating that P. Avens would take all possible measures to defend his and his family’s honour and dignity, including appealing to law enforcement agencies and the courts. They also referred to the British court’s decision in the so-called “Steele dossier” case, in which the allegations against Avens and his partners were found to be defamatory. The court ruled in his favour, awarding him all litigation costs and compensation in the amount of GBP 18,000.
Meanwhile,
Baiba Braže herself has not commented on Pjotrs Avens’ statement to the State Police requesting the initiation of criminal proceedings
against her for libel.
It should be noted that on the 10th of April 2024 the Court of Justice of the European Union annulled the EU Council’s decision on the sanctions imposed on Avens and Fridman on the 28th of February 2022, stating that the arguments put forward by the EU Council did not allow for the conclusion that “they (P. Avens and M. Fridman) had supported actions or policies that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine, or that they had provided material or financial support to Russian officials responsible for the annexation of Crimea”. Three months after the CJEU ruling, Latvia was the only EU member state to file appeals in the Avens and Fridman sanctions cases.
Read also: Avens: Latvian Minister is trying to “cement” my place on the sanctions list