Vilks back at post

RIGA - Corruption Prevention Bureau (CPB) acting chief Juta Strike has lifted former CPB chief Normunds Vilnitis’ order on the suspension of his deputy, Alvis Vilks, reports news agency LETA. Vilks said that he has already resumed fulfilling his duties.
CPB spokesperson Andris Vitenburgs explained that the decision was made as a result of an assessment of Vilnitis’ orders, Vilks’ case materials, CPB officials and trade union’s letter and Vilks’ petition to the Administrative Regional Court.

It was established that Vilnitis’ orders on Vilks’ suspension, disciplinary punishment and dismissal were without legal basis and contained significant violations. Therefore, they are illegitimate and must be retracted.
According to CPB, Vilnitis’ orders were issued without taking into account other competent institutions’ conclusions. The prosecutor’s office previously refused to launch a criminal process against Vilks regarding the implementation of PHARE project; the former CPB chief, however, ignored this.

On May 13, Vilnitis decided, after examining the materials in a disciplinary case against his deputy, to dismiss Vilks from his job. The disciplinary case was initiated to examine Vilks’ conduct in implementation of PHARE 2003 national program’s project on development and strengthening the capacity of the Corruption Prevention Bureau, where Vilks was accused of failure to act and of reporting erroneous information.

CPB’s trade union was angered by Vilnitis’ decision to fire Vilks without discussing it with the union.
The union assessed the disciplinary case and Vilnitis’ order and established several violations in them. The assessment was submitted for review to Strike during Vilnitis’ vacation. Strike then set up a special commission to evaluate the case, which established that there is not enough evidence to prove Vilks’ guilt. Both the assessment and the commission’s conclusions were submitted to Vilnitis.