Prosecutor's office still under scrutiny

RIGA - A veteran prosecutor harshly criticized by members of the Latvian Parliament for her work in the pedophilia case retired on March 1.

Biruta Ulpe, who has worked in the prosecutor's office since 1965, reached the retirement age but could have continued working if she chose, said Dzintra Subrovska, spokeswoman for the prosecutor general's office.

Instead, Subrovska said Ulpe decided it was better to retire than to continue working in an atmosphere where several public officials treated Latvia's prosecution office with contempt.

"Her decision is some kind of protest against the attitude by politicians towards the prosecutor's office," said Subrovska.

"Her opinion is that the prosecutor's office has not deserved such bad words and such an attitude."

Modris Adlers, formerly a prosecutor in Vidzeme regional court with some experience with the prosecutor general's office, has replaced Ulpe.

Subrovska said Adlers previously investigated the Latvenergo case in which a few million lats mysteriously disappeared, and sent it to the court.

Coincidentally, MP Janis Adamsons has cited the Latvenergo case as a key reason to limit the powers of the prosecutor general's office and to establish an independent prosecutor subject to Parliament's control.

Adamsons said an investigative commission looking into the missing money uncovered where it went, who got it and who was involved, but the prosecutor general's office did not make an impartial investigation.

Ulpe's retirement coincided with a decision by Chief Supreme Court Judge Andris Gulans to extend the deadline of the investigation into the work of outgoing Prosecutor General Janis Skrastins.

Adamsons, as chairman of Parliament's investigation commission, pushed hard for the Supreme Court to investigate the work of Skrastins and gathered the necessary signatures of fellow MPs.

The probe, which originally included a motion to investigate the work of Ulpe and outgoing Chief Criminal Prosecutor Olgerts Sabanskas along with Skrastins, is scheduled for completion on April 1.

Supreme Court Judge Voldemars Cizevskis, who began his work on Jan. 31, was granted an extension because he did not receive any documents from Adamsons and Parliament's investigation commission until the week of Feb. 21, said Leonards Pavils, the Ministry of Justice's spokesman.

Yet Skrastins will complete his duties as prosecutor general on April 3, since he tendered his resignation at the start of the new year.

According to legal experts, the probe is not even a criminal investigation; it is only examining Skrastins' procedures.

Thus, as his term expires, Skrastins could face limited repercussions for his work over the last year.

"I think this investigation today and in the future will have no future," said Vija Jakobsone, deputy-chair of the Sworn Advocates of Latvia.

She said the probe's result would have been very important if Skrastins was keeping his job, but since he's leaving, it will only provide information about his past work.

"(Whether) Skrastins was very good or very bad, it doesn't matter, because another person will be prosecutor general," said Jakobsone.

According to Pavils, Cizevskis, Skrastins and Parliament's investigative committee into the alleged pedophila ring will meet in Supreme Court on March 10 so Cizevskis can ask the parliamentarians additional questions.

At press time, Gulans was expected to name a new prosecutor general during the week of March 6, although Subrovska said that appointment is subject to Parliament's approval.