Latvian PM denies pedophilia accusations
Latvia's political and justice system were thrown into disarray yesterday, when the head of a parliamentary commission said witnesses had mentioned the names of Prime Minister Andris Skele and other top officials in connection with a major pedophilia scandal, accusations the Prime Minister strongly denied.
Lawmaker Janis Adamsons told parliament that witnesses had mentioned Mr. Skele, Justice Minister Valdis Birkavs and State Revenue Service Director Andrejs Sonciks as possibly having links to the scandal, commission member Dzintars Raznacs said.
Mr. Skele dismissed the accusations as a malicious provocation and said he would consider taking legal action.
"What has been said today has done serious damage to the state," Mr. Skele told reporters. "It was done with malicious intent, but we will get to the bottom of it and those behind it."
Mr. Birkavs has asked the prosecutor-general's office to open a criminal investigation into the accusations of criminal behaviour made without evidence.
The Baltic News Service quoted senior prosecutor Biruta Ulpe as saying that the Latvian prosecutor's office had no evidence supporting Mr. Adamsons's allegations.
Mr. Birkavs, a former prime minister and one of Latvia's leading legal scholars, has also decided to go on a hunger strike to speed up the legal action needed to clear his name.
Last summer, Latvian police busted a child pornography ring, which subsequently took on political overtones after investigative journalists revealed that some of the children had been forced into prostitution and claimed to have had sex with government officials.
The Latvian prosecutor-general initially dismissed the accusations, but was forced to open an inquiry after it was revealed that potential suspects in the case had put pressure on witnesses.
Several people have been detained in connection with the case, but parliament opened a separate investigation after expressing doubts about the prosecutor-general's commitment to pursue the case.
Both Mr. Skele and Mr. Birkavs speculated the accusations were aired to destabilize the government, but said it would not be successful.
"These baseless actions without evidence targeted at the government are damaging, but we will come out of it stronger," Mr. Birkavs told journalists.
Lawmakers were divided over the possible political fallout of the accusations aired yesterday, but a leading political observer said the government was unlikely to be toppled.
"The aim of the provocation has been to smear people so the government couldn't go on any more and would resign, but I don't think it will work," said Aivars Ozolins, a columnist with the leading daily newspaper Diena.
"Having not found any credible criminal evidence, they are playing on people's prejudices," he said. "Adamsons has never been careful in making a distinction between criminal activity and different sexual orientations."
The scandal has already claimed one political victim: Prosecutor-General Janis Skrastins resigned on Jan. 3 after lawmakers lost confidence in his handling of the case and started the process to remove him from office.
Mr. Adamsons himself is also fighting to save his political career. Proceedings have been started to strip him of his parliamentary seat because he served in the Soviet border guard, formally a division of the KGB, and Latvian law prohibits former KGB staff from holding political office.
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