RIGA - A Latvian political leader has been accused of abusing election campaign laws by signing up as a sponsor to the World Cup Football broadcasts.
Latvia's First Party leader Ainars Slesers appeared on the First Baltic Channel as a sponsor for the World Cup.
But his appearance sparked a reaction from the Latvian Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), which said it might investigate the matter as it could amount to election campaigning.
"I have a quite serious reason to believe that it is election campaign, and this is my opinion at the moment. My colleagues will conduct a probe into appearance of Slesers on the TV during the broadcast and the meaning of this appearance," KNAB chief Aleksejs Loskutovs told the Baltic News Service.
Latvia's First Party spokesman Edgars Vaikulis told BNS that the First Baltic Channel had asked Slesers to support broadcasts of the World Cup Games and the politician had agreed.
Vaikulis said that if such arrangements were deemed to be election campaigning, then all forms of donation would also come under scrutiny. He said Slesers had made donations to the Christian Aid Foundation each month, and questioned whether those charitable endowments should also be scrutinized as election campaigning.
