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Dozen sentenced in Latvia's high-profile digital TV case

Xinhua, May 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

A court in Riga on Friday handed down sentences to a dozen people charged in the so-called digital TV case dating back to 2003.

Under the ruling delivered by Riga Regional Court, seven of the 18 defendants standing trial in the case were sentenced to prison terms of one to three years and six were given fines. Several defendants were given both prison sentences and fines.

Among those convicted was Andrejs Ekis, the founder and former CEO Latvia's LNT commercial television. The court slapped the biggest fine, 43,200 euros (49,387 U.S. dollars), on him.

Jurgis Liepnieks, the former head of Latvian ex-premier Andris Skele's office, was ordered to pay a fine of 72,200 euros.

Guntars Spunde, the former director general of the Digital Latvian Radio and Television Centre (DLRTC), was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay a fine of 28,800 euros.

Harijs Krongorns, an accountant with a company owned by ex-premier Skele, was sentenced to three years in prison.

None of the defendants convicted in the digital TV case pleaded guilty to the charges laid against them. They have 20 days to appeal their sentences.

The digital TV case was started over a deal concluded in 2002 between DLRTC and the UK-registered company Kempmayer Media Ltd in order to introduce digital terrestrial television (DTTV) in Latvia. In the first phase of the project, DTTV services had to be provided in the Latvian capital city Riga and its area for 53.5 million US dollars. In August 2006 the deal was invalidated by a Swedish court of arbitration.

In September 2003, the Latvian Corruption Prevention Bureau launched a criminal investigation into the digital TV project over deliberately criminal actions and neglect on the part of state officials, large-scale fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.

Altogether 20 suspects were initially charged in the digital TV case, but eventually their number decreased to 18 as one suspect died and one could not be tried due to health reasons. Enditem