Whether Latvian MP Janis Adamsons is really, truly a KGB official rests in the hands of the politicians in Parliament.
Published:
14 March 2000 y., Tuesday
A court_s ruling told Adamsons, his supporters and foes on March 3 what they already knew: Adamsons was a staff officer in the Soviet KGB operated border guard.The court was expected to answer whether Adamsons_ involvement in the border guard put him in violation of a parliamentary rule excluding KGB officials that could have put Adamsons on the wrong side of an election law and possibly out the door.
Hearing the verdict, Adamsons and his attorney, were puzzled. He would have to see, he said, as elder supporters cheered and chanted his name in the courtroom.
Adamsons of the Social Democrats Workers Party, announced on March 6 that he will appeal the verdict to a higher court. Adamsons worked in the KGB Border Guard from 1979-1992.
The ruling will no doubt have to be appealed to gain clarity of Adamsons_ status, but politically it is unfavorable to Adamsons. LETA wire service reported that Latvia_s Way Party chairman Andrejs Pantelejevs characterized the Riga Zemgale District Court_s ruling as using of the "wisdom of Solomon."
According to Parliament regulations, a member can be expelled if he has broken election laws, one of which excludes from the body persons who have been KGB officials.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
A summit that was supposed to be held between the EU and Russia on Thursday this week has been postponed at Moscow's request
more »
Social Democrats, Social Liberals, Labor form ruling coalition in Lithuania
more »
Finland's Minister of the Interior Kari Rajamäki noted on Thursday that Estonia's border controls correpond to European border security thinking
more »
French president Jacques Chirac’s patience with the Palestinians’ desperate maneuvers to cover up Yasser Arafat’s demise has run out
more »
Greece's government, angered by a U.S. decision to recognize the name of neighboring Macedonia
more »
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has laid a wreath at Germany's national war memorial and urged remembrance of the suffering of both sides in World War II
more »
The European commission president, yesterday won greater room for manoeuvre to reshape his team and finally win MEPs' approval when he forced Latvia to drop its nominee for one of the 24 commissioner posts
more »
Putin lifts boycott threat but EU-Russia summit still up in the air
more »
The defense ministries of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan signed the military cooperation plan to provide for experts exchange in the field of military education, technical cooperation and industrial entrepreneurship in the military field
more »
The breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia put troops on alert amid fears that Georgia would take advantage of confusion after this month's unresolved presidential election there and launch an invasion, officials said
more »