Armands Krauze, leader of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) and recently dismissed from the post of Minister of Agriculture, is spreading blatant lies regarding his involvement in the timber industry case, Prosecutor General Armīns Meisters said in an interview with TV3 on Wednesday.
The Prosecutor General stressed that Krauze’s claims that he had personally been able to choose when investigators would carry out criminal procedural actions with him were “blatant lies” and part of a political dialogue with the public. According to Meisters, the politician could not have known when and in what capacity he would be involved in criminal proceedings or what procedural actions would be taken, as the process is directed by investigators.
Meisters also referred to Krauze’s statement that he had voluntarily gone to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB). The Prosecutor General pointed out that the case is being investigated by the prosecution service, meaning there had been no reason for the politician to go to KNAB at all, which, according to Meisters, further demonstrates that Krauze is staging a political show ahead of the elections expected this autumn.
Meisters assessed that so far there had been no indication of any genuine interest from Krauze
in cooperating with prosecutors in the investigation of the timber industry case.
Krauze told LETA news agency that on the 14th of May this year, representatives of the prosecution service informed him at the Ministry of Agriculture, in the presence of ministry employees, of his right to choose whether to give testimony to the prosecutor immediately or on another day, in which case he would receive an official summons.
According to Krauze, he chose to cooperate and provide testimony immediately, doing so without the presence of a lawyer.
As a result, Krauze called on Meisters to retract the information he expressed during Wednesday’s interview on TV3. At the same time, Krauze stated that he would submit a written request to the Prosecutor General’s Office asking for the publicly disseminated information to be withdrawn.
In the timber industry case, the status of a person against whom criminal proceedings have been initiated has been applied to former Ministry of Agriculture State Secretary Raivis Kronbergs, former Agriculture Minister Armands Krauze, current Ministry State Secretary Ģirts Krūmiņš, Deputy Head of the Forest Sector Strategy and Support Division Ilze Silamiķele, former chairman of the board of Latvijas Valsts meži Pēteris Putniņš, chairwoman of the company’s supervisory board Zane Driņķe, adviser to the chairman of the supervisory board Valdis Lūks, vice president of the Latvian Woodworking Federation Kristaps Klauss, an official from the woodworking company Pata Strenči, Valmiera municipal councillor Reinis Muižnieks from the party “Valmierai un Vidzemei,” and Uldis Mierkalns, owner and head of the Pata group.
No preventive security measures have currently been imposed on any of the individuals,
as such measures may only be applied to suspects or accused persons. At present, none of the individuals hold such status. The only person who was “detained within the meaning defined by the Criminal Procedure Law” was Kronbergs, in connection with alleged obstruction of criminal proceedings during the active phase of the investigation.
The criminal proceedings initiated in March are examining two directions. The first concerns officials of the Ministry of Agriculture who may have abused their official positions to unlawfully secure support for the timber industry sector. The second concerns potentially negligent actions by officials of Latvijas Valsts meži, who allegedly had every opportunity to prevent damage to the state but failed to act in accordance with the law. The case concerns the possible inaction of company officials that may have caused losses to the Latvian state amounting to approximately 50 million euros.
Mierkalns and other persons who are not public officials are suspected of potentially supporting the abuse of official position.
On the day active operational measures were carried out in the case, Krauze claimed that he was participating in the proceedings because he himself had submitted an application to the Prosecutor General’s Office and that all procedural actions were connected to his submission to prosecutors.
Krauze also claimed that he had personally been able to choose the time when he would participate in the procedural actions during which he provided his data. According to Krauze, he had been informed that he was not under arrest.
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