Latvija in brief - 2012-01-19

  • 2012-01-18

The head of Harmony Center’s Saeima group, Janis Urbanovics, has still not received the necessary clearance for access to state secrets to work on the Saeima’s National Security Committee, reports LETA. After recently saying that he will vote for granting state language status to Russian in the upcoming referendum, politicians from All for Latvia!-For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK said that they intend to push for the removal of Urbanovics from the Committee. Urbanovics said that no one can force him to leave and that he does not intend to leave. He had problems receiving the necessary clearance to work on the Saeima’s National Security Committee during the 10th Saeima. He was finally granted access several months after the committee was elected. The current Committee is made up of former Latvian president and current Saeima member Valdis Zatlers, Dzintars Zakis (Unity), Raimonds Vejonis (Union of Greens and Farmers), Karlis Kreslins (All for Latvia!-For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK) and Urbanovics.

A Latvian bride and her Indian groom have been sentenced for attempting to register a sham marriage in Northern Ireland, reports the British channel Utv. Jaspreet Singh, a 24-year-old Indian student living in Dublin, and 24-year-old Latvian woman Irina Kudinova, were arrested in Newry’s Register Office last September, just as the bogus service was about to begin. Two 33-year-old Indian men also living in Dublin and who acted as witnesses were also detained. Last week, all four were sentenced for attempting to cheat UK immigration rules. He said: “This case shows how people are prepared to enter into a marriage with someone they barely know to help them cheat the immigration system in exchange for cash. The UK Border Agency is cracking down on sham marriages and those who seek to cheat immigration laws face prosecution and conviction.” Kudinova received an 11 month sentence suspended for three years and fined 1,000 pounds, while Singh - who was illegally in the UK - was sentenced to 11 months suspended for three years and fined 2,000 pounds.