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After 12 years of court battles that were heated, a Latvian tribunal has delivered the verdict in Aivars Leonardbergs’ high-profile trial. Aivars is one of Latvia’s most wealthy individuals. Aivars is a popular politician of the populist party, and was once mayor of Venspils which is a port in northern Latvia.

On February 22, Riga Regional Court sentenced Lembergs to five years of prison as well as confiscation of his assets and an amount of EUR20,000 in fines after ruling him guilty on several charges related to bribery and money-laundering, while acquitting him on some other charges in this tangled and long-running investigation.

Lembergs (leader of For Latvia and Ventspils) has been compared by Lembergs to Russia’s opposition leader , Aleksey Navyny in his sentencing.

Lembergs asked for an instant break as the judge read his verdict. Lembergs had a quick chat during the break with his son Anrijs. He then used the rest time to comment to journalists.

Aivars Lembergs Lembergs has informed the media that he would appeal the Riga Regional Court’s decision . He also said it is likely that his appeal hearing would take another ten years. Lembergs claimed that he is determined to appeal his arrest even though the appeal is scheduled to be heard by the same regional court.

After having read the judgement and examining it again, the court ruled that the Lembergs’ would be taken into custody.

http://www.diena.lv/atslegvards/aivars-lembergs His co-defendants Anrijs Lembergs, his son, and Ansis Sormulis both were indicted for a variety of related charges and each were sentenced to two years of jail.

Lembergs was detained in handcuffs at the Riga City Centre district court on March 14 2007. Aivars Lembergs Aivars Lembergs Prosecutors first made moves against him to file charges of bribery, money laundering and conspiracy to extort huge sums of money against the individual. (Inquiries into related suspicions of corruption in Ventpils municipality began in 2005.). The verdict was handed down nearly 14 years after the event.

The case has been advancing through Latvian courts at a alarmingly slow pace for more than 10 years. In the last 12 years, 770 court proceedings were held as part of the main criminal cases. Since August 20, 2009, when Riga Regional Court resumed adjudication, to February 11, 2021, 1,483 court trials were conducted.

Aivars Lembergs Even though he’s currently being tried on charges of corruption and laundering of large sums, Lembergs has maintained his position as a politic powerful force in Ventspils. For the past two decades, he was the city’s mayor.

Even though his term as mayor was suspended due to financial crimes but he was still the real authority in the city. Aivars Lembergs He ignored a minister’s efforts to stop him from acting in the role of Ventspils mayor. He even took part in the IMF’s government meetings , and was a part of the selection process for candidates for the Latvian presidency.

Lembergs made a statement about the upcoming elections in Latvia, saying that Ventspils and his regional party For Latvia will make the decision to participate in the elections. But, his primary concern is not his participation at present. Aivars Lembergs