CCTV footage shows that two youths were involved. The politician is convinced that this is a planned arson. The State Police have not yet been able to find the previous arsonists.
Unlike four years ago, this time the car was set on fire outside his residence at around midnight. There were other cars around, the politician said, but it was his van, parked opposite the gate of his residence, that was chosen.
The video shows two arsonists in action, one first dousing the car with what appears to be petrol and moments later setting the other on fire. The flames were spotted in time by the politician's son and managed to be extinguished before the arrival of firefighters and police.
Dzalbe is an opposition member of the Daugavpils City Council, elected from the "Daugavpils Regional Party". The politician draws parallels - the first time his car was set on fire was in July 2020, after he announced his preparations for the previous municipal elections. Now, the next municipal elections are less than a year away.
Dzalbe said: "I am not going to make a list with persons who have compromised themselves and are now, let's say, catering to Mr [Daugavpils Mayor Andrejs] Elksniņš, I am not going to run together with such persons. So the question is whether this is a warning coming from this side."
The politician currently works as executive director of the Augšdaugava municipal council and is the head of the Latvian Polish Union. He also publishes the newspaper "Million". Previously published only in Russian, it now also includes articles in Latvian and Polish. "They call the editorial office and say, get this dog language out of the Russian newspaper. Let Latvians print their own newspapers, don't mess with Russians' heads," Dzalbe added.
Seven years ago, the car of Jeļena Pankeviča, the owner of the Dautkom TV cable TV station, was set on fire in Daugavpils. This case has been closed, but the criminal proceedings are ongoing for the first case of Dzalbe's car arson in 2020.
The police have opened an investigation into the events of last night.
Jūlija Jurāne, spokesperson for the Latgale Regional Directorate of the State Police, said: "Police officers are currently clarifying the circumstances of what happened and the investigation is in the active phase, so we cannot comment further on this in order not to affect the investigative work."
In total, the police have recorded four cases of car fires in Daugavpils and Augšdaugava this year.
Last year there were two such cases. Dzalbe does not rule out the possibility that some hooligans are also doing this in the city, but he is inclined to think that it was planned malice. He says that he has not yet decided which municipality - regional or city - he will run for a seat on the council, but he will take part in the elections.
