Charges changed for Russian wargames trespassers

Take note – story published 8 years ago

The Russian citizens Andrejs Popko and Aleksandrs Kurkins, who were arrested in June after walking into a massive NATO exercise, are now being charged not with espionage and terrorism, but hooliganism, LETA news agency reported on Friday.

The Diena daily wrote about the charges being changed to less serious ones. Imma Jansone, the lawyer of the two Russian citizens, confirmed the fact to LETA, and said that she intends to ask the Riga City Vidzeme District Court to release the suspects, who are being held behind bars.

Previously, the status has been given to the two Russians in accordance with the articles of the Latvian Penal Law on spying and attempts to carry out terrorist activities. The previous charge could have seen the two sentenced for life, or for up to twenty years.

The hooliganism charge, on the other hand, can be punished with an imprisonment up to five years, or community service, or a fine. 

The newspaper argues that there was reasonable doubt that the charge of terrorism and espionage could be exaggerated, as their actions were more of a publicity stunt, as a ladder was used in plain sight, and only fliers and two flags were found carried by the two.

It was also later revealed that a third person - Konstantīns Makarovs - had been involved, who was filming the ordeal. He later left Latvia and the EU, according to Diena. Because Makarovs, who it seems was the only one equipped for 'espionage', had left, the espionage charge was added to the two Russian citizens by the Security Police.

While bolshevik activist Vladimirs Lindermans, who was also detained in connection with the case, was tied to the case as he had arrived to the nearby town of Kadaga on a public bus, and in one of these cases he had "been noticed at the bus stop" where he had "hidden and looked at the fence of the Ādaži military base."

He had also visited a construction tools store, further confirming to the Security Police that he had cooperated with the trespassers, according to the daily.

Now, three months after the incident, the Security Police has changed the charges to hooliganism, committed in a group, while Lindermans has become a suspect in supporting hooliganism.

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