MP Jurašs charged with leaking state secrets

Take note – story published 5 years ago

On February 8 Saeima deputee Juris Jurašs (New Conservative Party) was charged with leaking state secrets, the prosecutor's office said.

Pretrial investigation is ongoing in the case.

This took place after the Saeima voted to allow pressing charges against MP Juris Jurašs. As such, Jurašs' participation in parliament is limited and fellow party members have replaced him with a cardboard cutout. 

As previously reported by LSM, Prosecutor General Ēriks Kalnmeiers wanted to press charges against Jurašs, a former anti-corruption officer, after Jurašs blew the whistle on what he says was an attempt to bribe him in a high-profile case.

He is accused of leaking classified information and the conflict between Jurašs and Kalnmeiers has become increasingly personal as well as widening into a political issue.

On the one hand, Kalnmeiers has expressed fears that the New Conservatives are politicising the legal system, while in the other direction there are claims of a cover-up by an entrenched elite and an attempt to make an example of Jurašs to discourage other whistleblowers.

However, the full materials relating to the case have yet to be seen by the public and both sides argue that when this knowledge becomes public it will prove decisive in their favor.

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