The DP investigation revealed evidence that a citizen of Latvia had influenced another person’s rights to freely elect their choice of candidates through the use of vote-buying schemes in Sakstagals parish of Rēzekne district.
Testimony obtained during the investigation gives grounds for sufficient body of evidence to bring the case to the prosecution for criminal proceedings.
The person now facing indictment for having violated Article 90 of the state Criminal Code is currently under detention, having expressed threats of physical retribution against witnesses.
As reported, no sooner had the results of the October 4 12th Saeima elections been announced that allegations surfaced regarding widespread incidents of vote-buying on the part of political party Unity, whose candidate Dzintars Zaķis did surprisingly well in the Latgale constituency where he ran.
This prompted opposition party Harmony to appeal the regional election results at the Supreme Court, which however rejected the motion and left the election results intact.
Altogether six criminal investigations in connection with the vote-buying scandal have been ongoing, but this is the first where a suspect has been detained prior to arraignment.
