The European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs recommended to deprive the deputy, the former mayor of Riga Nil Ushakov, of immunity from criminal prosecution. About it informs agency LETA.
It is noted that the final decision on this issue has not yet been made. The final verdict of the parliament of the European Union (EU) will make in November.
Ushakov himself said that the investigation that Latvian law enforcement officers are conducting against him concerns only a homemade paper album with a pasted-in video camera, which was found in his office. According to the politician, he was not aware of the presence of this subject there and did not use it. “I still cannot understand why I was not recognized as a victim,” he stressed.
In October 2020, the Latvian Prosecutor General’s Office sent a request to the European Parliament to revoke Ushakov’s parliamentary immunity to initiate criminal prosecution. Prior to that, the Latvian Bureau for the Prevention and Fight of Corruption appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office with a request to charge the ex-mayor of Riga with possession of a prohibited video surveillance device.
In April 2019, the Minister of Regional Development of Latvia, Juris Putse, dismissed Nil Ushakov from the post of Riga mayor. The reason for this was “non-fulfillment of obligations established by law and violation of regulations.” Ushakov filed a complaint about the minister’s possible abuse of his powers, but the court dismissed it.
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