The strange case of the Latvian Prosecutor General's dog

Take note – story published 6 years ago

Latvia's Prosecutor General, Eriks Kalnmeiers has made a series of unusual revelations, voicing suspicions that his house and even his dog may have been interfered with by unknown intruders.

Speaking to LTV and Latvian Radio, Kalnmeiers, who has been in the position since 2010, said he started to notice strange things six or seven years ago but - in an equally remarkable admission - that he had not reported them to the relevant law enforcement agencies until a second wave of unusual occurrences in 2016 and 2017.

Kalnmeiers told Latvian Radio on February 6 about several incidents that made him worry about being under possible observation. At the end of 2011 or at the beginning of 2012, he noticed signs that someone had been in his house while there was supposed to be no-one at home. 

Later, in 2016 and 2017, he suspected a bug might have been planted at his house and said he noticed signs of an intruder such as marks on the carpet. 

Several incidents related to his dog.

Returning to work one day, he found that the dog was outside the fence, although it should not have been able to escape from its fenced-in area. 

"So someone entered the area... and the dog had escaped," said Kalnmeiers. On another occasion he saw that the dog looked unwell and suspected that it might have been drugged. 

The Prosecutor General explained why he did not report his suspicions by saying: "There was not enough reason. There was no evidence other than my suspicion. But, in order to start a process, obviously something more is needed, because you cannot use [suspicion] as the basis of a criminal procedure. With what could this [intrusion] be proved? I only suspected. "

"I really did not ask because I know very well what the security services can find here - nothing."

If substantiated, the break-ins would be extraordinary as the role of the Prosecutor General includes "reconnaissance and counterintelligence processes of the national security institutions and of the system for protection of the state secret with legislative acts," according to the official information provided by the Prosecution Office.

The Security Police told Latvian Television that activities carried out in the field of counter-intelligence and state secrets were not commented upon.

"The chief supervisor is questioning the very system which he supervises. It does not promote trust in either the law enforcement agencies in general or the Prosecutor-General himself," said Ainars Latkovskis, the head of the Saeima's Defense, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Commission, which has responsibility for keeping tabs on the Prosecutor General's office.

Seen a mistake?

Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor

Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor

Related articles

More

Most important