RIGA
- Journalist Lato Lapsa has
unveiled a series of transcripts
that are allegedly wiretapped
phone conversations among
prominent figures in Latvia's
judiciary system from 1998 to
2000.
Lapsa said he received the documents
anonymously in his mailbox
at the end of last year 's something
that occurs regularly given
his propensity to publish anonymous
material 's and that he has
no clue who may have left the
transcripts.
The journalist simultaneously
released the transcripts to the
Prosecutor General's Office and
published them in a book. Lapsa
asked the prosecutors to determine
the authenticity of the tapes
and check for criminal liability.
The tapes primarily concern
conversations between high profile
lawyer Andris Grutups and
high ranking members of the
judiciary. If they are found to be
authentic, then the tapes could
imply corruption in the political
elite, business elite and the judiciary
system as a whole.
Prosecutors promptly launched
a probe into the material and
are set to form a special workgroup
to deal with the transcripts.
Moreover, the National Security
Council, which includes some of
the biggest names in Latvian politics,
is due to call a special meeting
to discuss the documents.
"The first sitting will address
current issues, including the
telephone conversations, and we
will decide what to do next. We
will get familiar with information
from the responsible services,"
BNS reported the
Parliament's national security
committee head Dzintars
Jaundzeikars as saying.
President Valdis Zatlers, who
will chair the council, has already
weighed in on the issue. In an
Aug. 20 radio interview, he
explained that the transcripts
raise doubts as to whether the
courts are truly independent. He
noted that while there has been
significant judicial reform in
recent years, there are lingering
doubts about the honesty and
integrity of the system.
Prime Minister Aigars
Kalvitis told public radio Aug. 21
that the conversations were most
probably the result of an illegal
wiretap and that someone must
have spied on the lawyer. He said
that the publication of the dialogues
could have been done for
various reasons, most likely political.
"This is an opportunity to
destabilize the political situation
in the country, to ruin trust in the
prosecutor's office and justice system.
Obviously somebody is interested
in such destabilization," he
said.
Earlier this year Vaira Vike-
Freiberga, while president, criticized
the judiciary for the slow
pace of reform and the backlog of
cases, saying that both were
impeding citizens' rights to a fair
and speedy trial.
Grutups defended the alleged
phone calls in an Aug. 15 interview
with the popular LTV broadcast
"100.pants."
"If I am calling a judge it does
not mean that I am trying to
achieve something illegal. I have
never ever in my life said that a
case ought to be reviewed in one
or another way," the lawyer said.
He went on to explain that the
alleged phone calls to Court Chief
Justice Andris Gulans and former
Finance Minister Gundars
Berzins were innocent in nature.
He rhetorically asked if "placing
a phone call" was a crime.
Lapsa told journalists that he
published the transcripts in order
to ensure public opinion would
weigh in on the matter and that
the case was thoroughly investigated.
The aim of the book was "to
raise enough public interest and
awareness about the case, so as
not to allow our dear investigation
and law enforcement institutions
to drown this case as has
happened with other cases,"
Lapsa said.
The journalist said that he
remembers a number of cases in
which information had been sent
to the prosecutor's office, but the
case was not launched and "died
naturally." He explained that
these cases indicate that it is not
enough 's "not in this country, not
at this time" 's to simply send the
information to the prosecutor's
office, and that public awareness
about the case must be raised as
well.
In an attempt to assuage fears
that the journalist was using the
tapes to prop up book sales, he
said that there would only be a
total of 4,000 copies of the book
made.
"It is not the project I want to
make money with," he said.
In order to avoid possible litigation,
Lapsa has slightly altered
the names in the transcripts in
the book, titled "Tiesasanas Ka
Kekis" and released by "Baltic
Screen Ltd." The main character,
for example, is named "Arnis
Gutups."
The journalist has publicly
voiced his intention to write his
next book about Andris Skele, former
prime minister and founder
of the ruling People's Party, widely
considered to be one of the
country's leading "oligarchs."
