Bunkus was gunned down at the wheel of his vehicle in broad daylight, as reported by LSM at the time.
Now, more than six years later, a verdict is expected in the trial of those accused of organizing his murder at the Riga City Court. If the judge does not announce the verdict in the near future, then the defendants will be released from custody.
The prosecutor is asking for a 20-year prison sentence for the accused businessmen Aleksandrs Babenko and Mihails Uļmans, and life imprisonment for Viktor Krivoshey – a Russian citizen – who is accused of carrying out the murder on their behalf.
A fourth man, suspected of being the mastermind of the murder has not been charged as he himself died a violent death. Underworld figure Genādijs Vaļagins was shot dead in Rīga, in March 2022.
According to the prosecution, Uļmans and Babenko agreed a total fee of 300,000 euros for the hit on Bunkus, who was an insolvency administrator investigating the financial affairs of a company called 'Rego Trade' and was trying to recover assets from it.
The police and the prosecutor's office are confident that they have succeeded in solving the murder, but the final word is awaited from the court. The trial has been going on for more than a year, causing considerable strain among Bunkus' family, which has launched a deermined and lengthy campaign for justice.
Court proceedings have been painfully slow for several reasons, including the apparent lack of Latvian language skills among the defendants, despite two of the three being Latvian citizens. In addition, the defendants frequently cite ill health as a reason for additional delays to proceedings.
Latvian Radio found out that until October 4, 83 court hearings have been held. Almost as many times - 76 - a delay was announced. Seven times hearings were cancelled completely for various reasons.
In October, court hearings are scheduled almost every day, but they are not going smoothly because the long speeches have to be translated. If the accused do not appear in court, but connect remotely from the prison, the process becomes even slower. Babenko and Uļmans tend to use this option.
Kristaps Bunkus, brother of the murder victim, underlined the importance of the outcome in this trial, telling Latvian Radio: "We have to believe until the end. Of course, we also have to prepare ourselves for a worse scenario, but it won't be our failure, it will be a repeated failure of the state, which failed to protect Mārtiņš as an official who actively raised the alarm and reported threats to his life. He fulfilled his official duties, and the alarm raised by him, directly or indirectly, has been largely confirmed."
The last day of detention for Uļmans and Babenko will be November 23, and for Krivoshey December 21. All three defendants say they are innocent of the charges brought against them.
This means that if the court does not prepare the full judgment by this time, the accused will be released. The court is due to announce its summary judgment on October 29. If a judgment is not made in a timely manner, prosecution lawyers say there is a serious risk the defendants might flee the country. Defense lawyers deny this.
At the end of July this year, the State Police reported that five people were detained on suspicion of preparing the murder of a State Police official. Among them is Alexander Babenko's son Artyom. He was detained, but in August, Riga District Court judge Aina Nicmane revoked his bail. As soon as Artyom was free, he fled the country.
