After 12 years worth of litigation A Latvian court has finally handed down its verdict in a high-profile case involving Aivars Lemmebergs, one the nation’s richest men and a popular populist politician. He was also a former mayor of Venspils (a port city in the northern part of Latvia).

Lembergs was sentenced at Riga Regional Court to five years of prison, confiscation and a fine of more than of EUR20,000 in connection with a number of charges he pleaded guilty to.

Lembergs is the leader of For Latvia & Ventspils party. Aivars Lembergs He has compared his sentence with the case of Aleksey Navalny. Russian opposition activist.

Lembergs requested a break during which the judge read out the verdict of his case. Aivars Lembergs Lembergs sat down with Anrijs his son and had an unintentional conversation. After that Lembergs spoke to Anrijs briefly and utilized the rest of the time to speak to journalists.

Aivars Lembergs Lembergs told journalists that he was going to appeal against the decision of Riga Regional Court. He also predicted that the decision on his appeal could last at least ten years. Lembergs also plans to appeal his detention, even though it will still be heard by the court of Riga.

After reading the verdict after which the court took Lemberg into custody. They also read an amazing list of offshore assets and businesses that were held across multiple jurisdictions. The court said it would take the assets.

His co-defendants, Anrijs and Ansis Lembergs were found guilty on various related accusations. They were each sentenced to two year sentences.

Aivars Lembergs On 14 March 2007 there was a furore in the media after being handcuffed and imprisoned Lembergs was brought to the Riga City Centre District Court in the midst of prosecutors making their first moves to line up allegations of bribery and laundering on a massive magnitude against him as an individual (investigations into linked suspicions of corruption within the Ventpils municipality had started in 2005). A verdict was reached nearly 14 years later than the incident.

The trial has been proceeding through Latvian law for more than 10 years at a slow speed. As part of the criminal proceedings in the main the court proceedings took place over 12 years. There have been 1,483 court hearings since the Riga Regional Court took over the adjudication process in August 2009. They continue to conduct court hearings until February 11, 20 and 2021.

Although he is currently facing trial on charges of corruption and money laundering in large sums, Lembergs has maintained his position as a political powerful force in Ventspils. In the last two decades, he was the city’s mayor.

Aivars Lembergs Although his appointment to the office of mayor was cancelled after he was indicted for financial crimes, he retained his absolute power within the city, defeating one minister’s efforts. He continued to function as Ventspils Mayor without issue. He even participated in meetings of the government together with the International Monetary Fund, and helped choose candidates for the Latvian presidency while indicted.

As for Latvia’s upcoming municipal elections, Lembergs said that the choice of whether to participate in the elections will be made by his local party For Latvia and Ventspils, however, his participation in the elections is the main thing he is focusing on. Aivars Lembergs