Latvian prosecutor's office seeks to halt activities of association linked to Matajevs in Belarus
In Latvia, the prosecutor's office has asked a court to terminate the activities of the “Bukultu iēzētāji” association, linked to Dmitrijs Matajevs, who left for Belarus after being released from custody. According to LSM English, citing an investigation by the De Facto program, the prosecutor's office considers the association's activities a threat to state and public security. The court has not yet begun hearing the case.
Requests to institutions and court cases
This year, the association sent requests to the Pauls Stradiņš Museum of the History of Medicine in Riga concerning an anti-war poster by artist Krišs Salmanis. The poster appeared on the museum's facade several weeks after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine; Russia is the aggressor state. It was placed opposite the Russian Embassy.
The organization demanded information about the initiators, production, installation and financing of the poster, as well as the museum's security, video surveillance expenses and insurance. The museum responded to the requests but did not provide all the requested information. Following the association's complaint, Latvia's Ministry of Health reviewed the correspondence and concluded that the museum had acted lawfully. The association subsequently applied to the Administrative Regional Court.
In total, the court has received ten applications from the association this year concerning the provision of information, and proceedings have already been initiated in eight of them. They concern the State Police, the Ministry of the Interior, the Riga municipality, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Salaspils municipality, the State Labour Inspectorate, the museum and the Ministry of Health. All these cases are being prepared for consideration.
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Criminal case and inspections
The association has operated since 2013 and initially dealt with local issues in the Garkalne municipality near Riga. Last year, it had two members, while since April Matajevs has remained the sole member of its board.
Two years ago, criminal proceedings were opened against Matajevs over videos in which investigators saw justification of Russia's war crimes and incitement of national hatred. The Riga City Court found him guilty at first instance and sentenced him to one year in prison. The verdict has not entered into force because it is being appealed.
Over the course of a year, Latvia's Food and Veterinary Service received 16 applications and requests for information directly from Matajevs or the association. Including repeated and forwarded submissions, the service prepared nearly 40 replies. Inspections conducted following Matajevs's complaints found no violations.
Artūrs Spīgulis, a lawyer for Dobeles dzirnavnieks, said he considers Matajevs's actions to be supported by Russian and Belarusian special services. He explained this assessment by the focus of the submissions, the nature of the information used, previous cyberattacks and similar incidents at other companies. This statement by the lawyer is not a court finding.
