The vice mayor of a small Latvian town has been found guilty of cooperating with the Communist Party after independence, an action which will see him stricken from running in future elections.
Fridijs Bokiss, vice mayor of Ludza in eastern Latvia, was found to be an active member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Latvian Communist Party after January 13, 1991.
Latvia places electoral restrictions on people involved with communist activities after independence. Bokiss will now be banned from nominating as a candidate in the national parliamentary elections.
Bokiss ran in the last national election as a candidate for the left party Harmoy Center, but was not elected.
He told BNS he may appeal the sentence.
