Charges pressed over PM car crash

RIGA - Charges have been pressed against both drivers involved in a accident earlier this year that resulted in severe head damage to Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis.

The Riga City Motor Transport Prosecutor's Office charged both the driver of the prime minister's car and the driver of a passenger minibus with traffic violations resulting in serious bodily injuries. The charge can fetch up to 10 years in jail and subsequent suspension of the driving license for the period up to five years.

The defendants have not been taken into custody pending the trial.

Kristine Apse-Krumina, an aide to the Security Police chief, told the Baltic News Service that an internal investigation was conducted after the accident involving the premier's car. The circumstances of the accident were analyzed and measures taken to improve training of the Security Police officers responsible for security of the top state officials.

The rules regarding escorting of the prime minister have been updated in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, she said.

The Security Police officer, who had been driving the premier's car at the time of the accident, had been given another assignment, said the Security Police spokeswoman but declined to say whether the man's new duties also included driving of a car.

On June 18 this year a minibus with 17 passengers collided with the Latvian prime minister's car that had entered the intersection on the red light but with sirens and roof lights on. The prime minister sustained a head injury, and a female passenger of the minibus was injured in the leg but nobody else was injured in the accident, even though there was also a bodyguard and the head of the prime minister's office in the premier's car.

The premier suffered fracture of the temporal bone and a concussion in the accident.

Under the Latvian rules, special vehicles can breach traffic rules but have to make all efforts to guarantee traffic safety.