The murder of the woman in Jēkabpils is the fault of the state, said Latvia’s President Egils Levits in an interview to Spried ar Delfi programme.
The president plans to meet with the Chief of State Police Armands Ruks and Prosecutor General Juris Stukāns in May to discuss who truly is to blame for the woman’s murder.
Levits said the murdered woman did all she could to secure protection that was not provided to her in the end. The president says the state is to blame for that. However, it is also necessary to look who is responsible – police, prosecution office of the court of law.
He also stressed that during his meeting with the two aforementioned law enforcement officials it is planned to discuss this case and ways to prevent such situations from repeating in the future.
The president did not deny it is necessary to clarify legislation, stressing at the same time that “a capable lawyer would have made the correct decisions with the existing legislation”. Levits said a lawyer doesn’t need someone else to point in the right direction, but if people like that exist, changes to the legislation are needed.
On the 16th of April a 1983-born woman was stabbed to death in front of her child and mother in Jēkabpils.
The murder was committed by the woman’s ex-husband Leons Rusiņš. For months before the murder he sent frequent threats and persecuted her. His behaviour was reported to the police, but no protection was provided.
The chief of State Police has ordered an internal investigation “to make sure police officers acted in accordance to the law, actively and professionally”. Ruks invites looking at this incident in a broader sense, adding that it would be necessary to add amendments to the law and provide more severe consequences for people who refuse to comply with court-mandated duties.
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