Saeima appoints Maizitis Constitutional Protection Bureau’s chief

RIGA - Today, Saeima appointed former Prosecutor General Janis Maizitis as the Constitutional Protection Bureau's chief, reports LETA.

59 Saeima members voted for Maizitis, 31 MPs - Harmony Center members and Greens/Farmers' MPs Iveta Grigule and Janis Vucans - voted against.

Persons denied access to state secrets should be allowed to appeal the Constitutional Protection Bureau's decision twice to the Prosecutor General's Office, Maizitis said previously. He also believes that these persons should be informed about the reasons behind the decision.

The newly-appointed Constitutional Protection Bureau's chief also believes that if suspicious information appears in the mass media regarding a Constitutional Protection Bureau's employee, it must be investigated. Afterwards, if this person continues to fulfill his/her duties, the public should be explained the bureau's reasoning.

According to LETA archive, Maizitis was born on July 18, 1961. He graduated from the University of Latvia's School of Law in 1984, worked as an investigator at the Cesis District Prosecutor's Office from 1991 to 1994, and became the chief prosecutor of Cesis District in 1994.

Maizitis worked as the prosecutor general from 2000 to 2010. After he was not re-elected for the third term, Maizitis accepted President Andris Berzins' offer to work as his advisor on national security matters.

The previous director of the Constitutional Protection Bureau Janis Kazocins, whose second term in office ends on May 2 this year, decided not to run for a third term.