Bad attitude of Latvian policemen

Jul 23, 2008
In cooperation with BNS

RIGA - The Latvian prosecutor's office has launched a probe on the supposed bad attitude of Latvian policemen towards their German colleagues.

It is unknown what the probe is  exactly about, but prosecutor's office representative Dzintra Vitolina confirmed that the prosecutor's office has launched a probe at the request of two German policemen.

She said, that Eriks Zvejnieks, a chief prosecutor of the Prosecutor General's Office, has noted that submissions from foreigners in trouble should also be accepted if they are not written in the official language.

Zvejnieks speaking on Monday at the annual meeting of the State Police said that foreign ambassadors have pointed out that tipsy foreigners are often cheated out huge prices for drinks in Latvian cafes and bars.

Unfortunately, two German policemen had also fallen in the "trap". Zvejnieks said that, according to testimonies of the German policemen, Latvian police officers had taken them to a police unit and beaten up.

Zvejnieks has also heard from the German and Danish ambassadors that Latvian policemen refuse to accept submissions of fraud in Latvian bars if the documents are not written in the Latvian language.

State Police internal security bureau, which is in charge of assessing offenses by police officers, said that there had been a complaint received from the German policemen a few  weeks ago. The bureau's representative Iveta Smoca told the Baltic News Service that a probe has not yet been launched on the case. She did not remember what happened to the submission, but she said that it has possibly been sent over to the Riga Regional Police Department.

Smoca remembered that there had been nothing in the submission about violence of Latvian policemen, just a complaint over the police attitude to the bill of 120 lats (EUR 170) for four people in a bar, which had been too high in the opinion of the Germans.

The German citizens complained that the policemen were not quick enough in explaining and assessing the situation and complained also about not providing a translator, said Smoca.

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