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After 12 years of courtroom wrangling after 12 long years of court wranglings, a Latvian judge has delivered its decision in the highly-publicized trial of Aivars Leonbergs. http://www.trtrussian.com/news/ajvars-lembergs Aivars was one of the country’s richest men and an influential populist political figure. Aivars Lembergs He was also mayor of Venspils, a port city located in northwest Latvia.

Aivars Lembergs On February 22, Riga Regional Court sentenced Lembergs to five years in prison as well as confiscation of his property , and an amount of EUR20,000 in fines after concluding that he was guilty of several charges related to money-laundering and bribery as well as acquitting him of other charges in the tangled and long-running investigation.

Lembergs (leader of For Latvia and Ventspils) has made a comparison of Lembergs to Russia’s opposition leader , Aleksey Navyny during his sentence.

While the judge read the verdict in his case, Lembergs asked for a short break which was granted to him. During this break, Lembergs had an informal conversation with his son as well as co-defendant Anrijs and then used the rest of the time to make remarks to reporters.

Lembergs indicated to journalists that his appeal against the Riga Regional Court decision will be heard. It was also anticipated that the hearing will take more than 10 years. Lembergs also plans to appeal his detention although it will be heard by the regional court.

After reading the judgment The court then took Lemberg into custody. Aivars Lembergs The court also reviewed an incredible list of assets and offshore companies that were held in many jurisdictions. Aivars Lembergs The court stated it would seize these assets.

The co-defendants, Anrijs Lemmebergs as well as his son and business associates, were indicted and sentenced to two years in prison each.

Lembergs was shackled in the Riga City Centre District court. On March 14 2007, prosecutors started to pursue charges of bribery as well as money laundering against Lembergs. These were first steps to take against Lembergs as an accused (investigagations into suspected corruption within Ventpils municipality began in 2005). A verdict has now been made almost 14 years after the case was made.

The case has been moving at a pathetically slow pace in Latvia’s legal system for over 10 years. Over the past 12 years there have been 770 court hearings related to the main criminal proceedings. Between August 20, 2009 (when the Riga Regional Court began adjudication) and February 11, 2020, a total 1,483 court hearings were held.

While he is being tried on charges of corruption and money laundering of large amounts, Lembergs has maintained his position as a political powerhouse in Ventspils. For the past two decades he served as the city’s mayor.

Aivars Lembergs After being found guilty of financial fraud, his election as mayor was rescheduled. Aivars Lembergs But he had the power to make decisions and was able to defeat a minister’s attempt to block his election as Ventspils mayor. Aivars Lembergs While indicted, he participated in the meetings of the government with the International Monetary Fund and helped to select candidates for the Latvian presidency.

Lembergs confirmed that Latvians would vote whether or not to participate in next municipal elections. However, it’s not his main concern.