2024-04-25 20:10:35
The Chairman of the Legal Commission of the Saeima, Andrejs Yudins (JV), told the LETA agency that the allegation of such a serious possible violation must be checked by the law enforcement authorities.
Yudins believes that in this case, responsibility for one of the two norms of the Criminal Law should be applied – if what Kažuļas said turns out to be true, then for incitement to influence the election results, but if what was said turns out to be false, then criminal liability for providing false information about an allegedly committed crime should be applied. “There must be one conviction in this situation,” emphasized the head of the Legal Commission.
As Yudins said, “if the particular person really cared about democracy and the country”, then he should have turned to the law enforcement authorities in the same year 2014. The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has so far not received a single submission from businessman Kadžulis or any other person in connection with possible falsification of the results of the 2014 Saeima elections, LETA agency learned from KNAB. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (SAB) has also not received an official submission from Kadžul regarding possible falsification of the results of the 2014 Saeima elections or attempts to do so. Such a submission has not been received from the company “SOAAR” represented by him either. SAB has not received a single anonymous submission on the specific topic, SAB assured the LETA agency.
As Edmunds Jurēvics, chairman of the JV Saeima faction, emphasized to the LETA agency, such statements without any evidence a month before the European Parliament elections suggest a deliberate attempt to undermine trust in the electoral system.
In Jurevic’s assessment, only a “loud, empty, dramatic announcement” has been made about the “so-called events” ten years ago, but if there were any facts, they should have been “put on the table” immediately in 2014. If there are no provable facts, then, according to Jurēvits, Kadžulis’ statements should be evaluated more as an attempt to sow doubts about the election process and democracy in Latvia, which “makes one wonder which neighboring country such statements benefit”.
Jurēvics fully agrees with the position of Prime Minister Evikas Silinas (JV) to ask the law enforcement authorities to check Kadžulis’ statement made publicly.
As JV representative Anna Údre informed the LETA agency, JV firmly stands for the principles of a legal and democratic state and believes that the statements made in the public space require an immediate response from all institutions and security services involved in the election process.
“We emphasize that the party “Vienotība” denies that it has taken any actions that could be interpreted as putting pressure on businessmen,” the statement will say, indicating that there are no known reasons why such claims appeared right now.
JV emphasizes that the statements made publicly by Kažulis are serious accusations of an attempt to influence the democratic procedures established in the Constitution. “Such allegations significantly undermine any public trust in a fair, legal and democratic electoral system, therefore, an immediate in-depth examination of these allegations and an investigation by the election process supervisory authorities are necessary to eliminate any doubts about the legitimacy of the election results or to prosecute persons who illegally interfered with the election in the process and results,” emphasized in the JV statement.
As reported, Kadžulis, who is accused in the case of fraud in the procurement of the Central Election Commission (CVK), claimed to LTV that on the night of the 12th Saeima elections held in the fall of 2014, Kampars invited him to talk and expressed concern that Āboltiņa might lack the votes to enter the Saeima. “We need you to do it so that she gets elected,” Kadzulis allegedly told Kampara ten years ago. “I’m saying, do you understand what you’re asking, you’re asking to falsify the election results. I will never go down that path in my life. And I refused. [Kampars] He said – then everything will be fine,” Kažulis claimed in the program.
He said that these statements can only be proved by the fact that Āboltiņa was not elected in the end, but he got into the 12th Saeima after Jānis Junkurs, who was elected from the “Vienotības” list, resigned from the Saeima. He announced that he had received a job offer from a company in Hong Kong. However, his public official’s declaration did not show his work in a Hong Kong company, which led to the conclusion that he left the Saeima to make room for Āboltiņa.
Kadžulis said that he had reported the incident to SAB, but there was no response. “I reported it several times to SAB. Do you think something happened? It’s like against the wall there, just like KNAB. At one point, hands drop to report something, because no one does anything,” Kadžulis reproached.
However, SAB and KNAB indicate that such a submission has not been received.
After these announcements, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV) emphasized that she would ask the law enforcement authorities to check the statement made publicly. Siliņa emphasized that what Kažuļis said about the attempt to influence the democratic procedures established in the Constitution should not remain without consequences. “Either it happened, and one must answer to the law, or it didn’t, and the other must answer to the law. The opinion of the institutions protecting Latvia’s constitutional order and security must be expressed very clearly – there must be both an assessment and action,” the Prime Minister believes. .
Therefore, she has decided to request information from the state security authorities, as well as to invite the Prosecutor General to verify the statements made.
At the prosecutor’s office, there is currently a criminal case for fraud in the IT procurement organized by CVK. Kadžulis is one of the defendants in this case. The company led by him won several times in the procurement of CVK and the Directorate of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.
In April 2024, Kažulis claimed to TV3’s program “Neka peresika” that “Vienotība” had been using the system created by “SOAAR” for elections in congresses for eight years for free, without making the requested payment for the services. KNAB has started a departmental inspection in connection with this. A week later, Kadžulis’ announcements that Kampars tried to influence the counting of votes in the 2014 Saeima elections followed.
2024-04-25 20:10:35