Latvija in brief

The Supreme Court’s Senate on Nov. 22 upheld the guilty verdict and 17-year prison sentence for lawyer Nikolajs Zikovs, who murdered banker Aigars Egle in the Citadele movie theater in February 2011, reports LETA. The Senate’s decision cannot be appealed, said Supreme Court press secretary Baiba Kataja. This past May, the Riga Regional Court sentenced lawyer Zikovs to 17 years in prison, property confiscation and three years of probation. Zikovs shot and killed Egle, the head of Citadele Bank’s Department of Assets and Liabilities, in Riga’s Forum Cinemas multiplex on Feb. 19, 2011. Egle was a father of four children. He was slain in front of his daughter after he reproached the assailant for his loud behavior in the theater. During the movie Black Swan, Zikovs was loudly eating popcorn and commenting on the movie, not respecting other audience members’ requests to keep quiet. Egle and Zikovs began arguing as they got up to exit after the movie was over. Zikovs then pulled out a gun and fired several shots at Egle, killing him. Fellow audience members apprehended Zikovs as he tried to flee.

In Moscow on Nov. 21, in order to continue with the development of the Riga-Moscow highway, an agreement on the management, maintenance and development of highways was signed by Latvian state-owned road maintenance company Latvijas Valsts celi head Janis Lange and the head of Russia’s Federal Highway Agency Rosavtodor Grigori Prokuronov, reports Nozare.lv. Also during the meeting, ideas were discussed on how to lessen the travel time of the Riga-Moscow rail line by possibly allowing customs procedures to begin while the train is on the move. The train line, which takes about 17 hours, has already been reduced by 40 minutes, and it is being discussed how to reduce the travel time by another two hours. Also discussed was the enhancement of the capacity of rail border points between Latvia and Russia and to improve the overall work of these border control points.

On Nov. 23, Latvian boxer Mairis Briedis became the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) world champion after defeating Czech boxer Lubos Suda in a title fight in Liepaja (southwestern Latvia), reports LETA. Briedis confidently defeated his opponent, who pulled out after the fifth round. This is the first time a Latvian has won a boxing world title in any of the world’s boxing belts. Briedis has 22 wins in his career, 14 of them knock-outs. He has lost only one professional boxing match in his career.