On March 2, Senators of the Supreme Court Artūrs Freibergs, Aija Branta and Inguna Radzeviča will consider the cassation complaint of the journalist, member of the Latvian Association of Journalists (Latvijas žurnālistu asociācija) Leonid Jakobsons (Leonīds Jākobsons) in criminal case No. 118160 .
The plot is as follows, on May 17, 2021, the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Riga District Court recognized Leonid Yakobson guilty of committing a criminal act under the first paragraph of Article 144 (Intentional violation of the secrecy of correspondence) and sentenced to 84 hours of forced labor.
In addition, judges Diana Dumbre, Tamara Broda and Smaida Gļazere ruled that Leonid Jakobson must pay a thousand euros to Saskaņa leader Nils Ušakovs.
It was decided to collect another 397.95 EUR of procedural expenses from the journalist in favor of the state.
Leonid Yakobson appealed the verdict in full. According to his lawyers Ilona Bulgakova and Linda Birini, the decision of the District Court is unfounded and should be canceled due to its lack of objectivity.
The European Court of Human Rights has assessed the almost identical case Benediktsdottir v. Iceland, in which journalists received private correspondence from a public figure from their source and published it to the extent that was essential in the public interest.
The Icelandic courts recognized that in a particular situation the right of journalists and the media to publish information prevailed over the applicant’s right to inviolability of correspondence, so the media and its editor were acquitted. With regard to the said decision, the applicant applied to the ECtHR.
However, the ECtHR recognized that the national courts made a well-founded decision, since the applicant is a public person, and the publication was related to an issue of public interest. In this regard, the ECtHR concluded that the interference with the right to inviolability of correspondence in a particular case is justified, since the right to freedom of speech enjoys greater protection.
It should be noted that the court of first instance, having considered the case in ten court sessions, announced on September 20, 2016 an acquittal, recognizing the inalienable right of journalist Leonid Yakobson to inform the public. But the court of appeal, due to a technical error, canceled the sentence and sent the criminal case for retrial.
– During a long-term trial, the leader of the Harmony party, Nil Ushakov, did not want to testify about his connections with Russian intelligence. Including, an employee of the Russian embassy in Riga, Alexander Khapilov, who was accused of preparing an assassination attempt on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Nil Ushakov in every possible way delayed the consideration of the criminal case, for which he was fined, – says journalist Leonid Yakobson.
As a result of the proceedings, the right of Leonid Yakobson to complete the criminal process within a reasonable time was violated.
The Office for Combating Economic Crimes (Ekonomisko noziegumu apkarošanas pārvaldes, ENAP) on November 23, 2011 launched a criminal trial for hacking the email of the then Mayor of Rini, Nil Ušakovs. Soon, a search was conducted in the apartment of Leonid Yakobson, computers and data carriers were confiscated from him.
– Everything happened, as in the notorious action movie. A masked assault team broke open the door of an Internet hosting company and took away the servers that ensured the operation of the KOMPROMAT.LV portal, Leonid Yakobson recalls.
“These actions were carried out despite the fact that I, Edmunds Zalite, the maintainer of the activities of Kompromat.lv and other portals, voluntarily contacted the police, did not hide and was available,” it says. in a statement from Internet hosting company owner Edmunds Zalite (Edmunds Zalīte).
After the searches, according to the decision of the ENAP inspector Naurisa Liepinsha (Nauris Liepiņš), the journalist was escorted to a pre-trial detention center, imprisoned for two days. But the repression did not end there. A recognizance not to leave was taken from Leonid Yakobson, so far they have not returned his computer and hard drive.
– During the investigation, inspector Nauris Liepins did his best to liquidate KOMPROMAT.LV. Carefully practicing the team of customers, the police even confiscated a backup (backup copy) so that it would be impossible to restore the portal archive, – says Leonid Yakobson.
Was it necessary to imprison the journalist Leonid Yakobson for publishing?
– The toughest actions can be explained by tacit motivation. In particular, Nauris Liepinsh posted a picture on his Facebook page in which he is posing with one of Nil Ushakov’s close associates, Sandris Bergmanis, a deputy from the Harmony party ruling in the Riga City Council at that time, – says Leonid Yakobson.
When the KOMPROMAT.LV portal could not be liquidated by police methods, the customers took off their masks: a criminal attack on the journalist followed. So, on the afternoon of March 29, 2012 at the entrance of the house on the street. A. Chak Leonid Yakobson was attacked by two men. The journalist was shot in the face from a gas pistol at close range. Then they knocked him down, began to beat him, after which they cut his hand and face, leaving a deep 7-centimeter scar on his cheek. At the time of the attack, Leonid Yakobson was with his minor son.Sandris Bergmanis (Sandris Bergmanis) and Nauris Liepiņš.
Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis called on the law enforcement agencies to investigate this case in the most thorough manner. “The culprits must be found and punished. The independence of the media and the right to freely express one’s views are vital to democracy. The state has an obligation to protect this right, so those who threaten it must be dealt with with the utmost severity,” he said.
However, the perpetrators have not yet been identified. But, what is characteristic: immediately after the barbaric attack, Nil Ushakov could not contain his joy, writing on social networks that he had an alibi, accompanying the information with a mocking smile (emoticon).
– For more than ten years I have been living like the hero of Kafka in the novel The Trial. In the same instance, I was tried twice on the same charge. The police completely failed the investigation to identify those who attacked me, – summarizes Leonid Yakobson.Video: Russian intelligence officer Alexander Khapilov and Latvian politician Nil Ushakov.