RIGA - Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis sent a bolt through Latvian society and the law enforcement system when on Sept. 24 he suddenly suspended the chief of the increasingly active anti-corruption bureau.
Kalvitis made his unexpected decision after a state audit uncovered alleged irregularities in the bureau's bookkeeping. Aleksejs Loskutovs, who has headed the Corruption Prevention and Control Bureau (KNAB) since 2004, responded by saying the move was political and that he intended to return to work on Sept. 25 since the order to dismiss him contained mistakes.
The dismissal drew fierce criticism from opposition politicians and NGOs, both of which maintain that the suspension is a political attack on KNAB.
Much of the criticism focused on KNAB's probes into dealings of the ruling People's Party, to which Kalvitis belongs.
Kalvitis told the press on Sept. 24 that the violations were extremely serious and had been going on for a number of years. He said that the State Auditor's Office found "continued and serious violations concerning the use and accounting of operative financial resources."
"The head of an institution is responsible for transparent use of financial resources and correct accounting, and the results of the audit… show that this was not ensured," Kalvitis said.
Inguna Sudraba, Latvia's chief auditor, expressed surprise at the relatively drastic action the prime minister took over the audit.
"I have never felt such a political interest or response to the results of previous audits," Sudraba told journalists on Sept. 24. "If it is a new turn... I can only appreciate it and hope for similar reaction in all cases," she said.
Sudraba said that the State Auditors Office has carried out audits of all law enforcement institutions, and that the results of those audits have been ready since June. She said that while the KNAB violations have been continuing for years, this was the first audit to look into operative resources and uncover the problems.
Loskutovs said in an interview with the "900 seconds" TV show on Sept. 25 that he is considering taking the decision to suspend him to a court of appeals. He said that he would use his lawyer's education and consult specialists to assess the legitimacy of his suspension
He went on to say that the move may be revenge for some of KNAB's recent activities and that a more obedient anti-corruption boss would better suit Kalvitis.
Loskutovs, who was criticized in 2004 when he took up the post, is now regarded as a vanguard in the fight against corruption, to the extent that many politicians feel that KNAB is too independent.
Delna, the local branch of Transparency International, also blasted the move, accusing the prime minister of launching a political attack against the organization. Delna claimed that the suspension "must be regarded as an unacceptable political attack against the organization which is most important in pursuing criminal investigations of political corruption."
"This can be seen as an attempt to weaken KNAB just as it is preparing to take decisions on parliamentary campaign spending 's decisions which must be published no later than in October," Delna's Web site reads.
According to Delna, the People's Party could be facing a fine of as much as 2 million lats based on the results of KNAB's investigation into pre-election financing in 2006. The Web site calls on the prime minister to explain the reasoning behind his decision. It also raises the question of why Kalvitis publicly announced the suspension without informing or consulting with Loskutovs.
This is not the first time that Loskutovs and Kalvitis have clashed. Most recently, Kalvitis slammed KNAB in August for excessive self-promotion and overly publicizing the bureau's activities. Loskutovs responded by saying that someone close to Kalvitis was providing him with misinformation.
The move has been perceived as a broadside against the law enforcement community, and not surprisingly the Prosecutor General's Office has decided to launch its own investigation into the matter regardless of the government's findings.
"We received the auditors' findings yesterday, and regardless of what the government is going to do, the Prosecutor General's Office is launching a probe," chief prosecutor Janis Maizitis told the press before the Sept. 25 Cabinet meeting.
He noted that the findings of the Auditor's Office have yet to be proved and that the information available is "insufficient to judge whether there are grounds for launching a criminal procedure."
The National Security Council was due to discuss the matter shortly after The Baltic Times went to press.
Meanwhile, a commission set up by the government and headed by Maizitis is expected to assess Loskutov's suitability for the post.
