Prosecutor general requests criminal prosecution of Latvian Saeima deputy accused of espionage

The Office of the Prosecutor General has asked the Saeima to permit criminal prosecution of deputy Jānis Ādamsons, who is accused by the State Security Service of spying for Russia.
Prosecutor Juris Ločmelis has confirmed having a criminal process from VDD. In it the service suggests commencing criminal prosecution of Ādamsons and one other person.
Because the Saeima has yet to review the request, the prosecutor did not say which sections of the Criminal Law are included in the charges against Ādamsons.
Saeima’s Internal Order states that the decision regarding permission or refusal of criminal prosecution of a member of the parliament is made based on the report of the Mandates, Ethics and Submissions Committee on the topic.
The committee’s chairman Janīna Kursīte-Pakule did not comment whether or not the request from the prosecutor has been received. She explained that the agenda for the next week’s meeting of the committee has not yet been approved. It could be done by Friday, 3 December.
BNN previously reported Ādamsons was put under arrest in June.
Unofficial information suggests Ādamsons leaked both publicly accessible information – different law amendments, information about army procurements and budget, and provided information about Latvia’s eastern border infrastructure and Baltic Assembly’s position on Nord Stream 2 project. Unofficial information also suggests he used his computer in the parliament to leak information.
In the Saeima Ādamsons worked in the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee, Submissions Committee and Baltic Affairs Sub-Committee. Although Ādamsons has no permit to access official secrets, he had the right to participate in meetings of the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Committee during which officials presented confidential information.
He also worked in multiple Saeima deputy groups. As a member of the parliament he worked in the work group in charge of cooperation with the Israeli Parliament, the Chinese Parliament and Belarusian Parliament.
In January 2019 Ādamsons became the head of the group of deputies in charge of developing cooperation with the Russian parliament.
During the Soviet era Ādamsons held different posts in the USSR Navy. After the restoration of Latvia’s independence Ādamsons served as deputy commander of Latvian Navy and commander of the Border Guards Brigade. Later he entered politics.
Ādamsons still receives a military pension paid by Russia.