Two senior Latvian police officers detained in corruption probe

The internal security arm of the Latvian State Police announced on Thursday that a high-ranking police officer and a police inspector have been detained in a probe into bribery cases.

Valters Murnieks, head of the Internal Security Bureau, said at the press briefing that the detained officers were Arvils Feierabends, deputy head of the Public Order Police, and inspector Ilmars Pletnieks.

Four other suspects have also been arrested in connection with the bribery investigation, Murnieks said.

The crimes have been committed quite recently and the bribes were worth thousands of euros, Murnieks said, adding that the investigation was still in the early stage.

State Police chief Ints Kuzis said that the detained officers would be fired. In addition, the responsibility of their boss Andris Velss, head of the Public Order Police, would also be assessed as part of a disciplinary probing, which was conducted together with the criminal investigations. Endit