FROM IMMUNITY TO INVESTIGATION ⟩ The Belated Unmasking of Tatjana Zdanoka is in Full Swing

Since at least 2004, Tatjana Zdanoka, a former Latvian member of the European Parliament, has allegedly been collaborating with the FSB. Photo: Shalgin Alexander / TASS

LETA

25th July 2024, 15:21

The Latvian State Security Service recently executed search warrants at several residences associated with Tatjana Zdanoka, a former member of the European Parliament and member of the Latvian Russian Union.

The Security Service confirmed that search warrants had been executed on Monday, July 22, at two residences associated with Zdanoka, where Security Service officers seized storage media, notes, and documents, which are now being analyzed.

The searches are part of a criminal case against Zdanoka, launched earlier to investigate her suspected collaboration with Russian intelligence services, said the Security Service.

Search warrants were most likely executed because Zdanoka is no longer a MEP and has lost her parliamentary immunity.

Unofficial sources told Latvian information agency LETA that Zdanoka is not currently residing in Latvia and her phone is switched off.

In mid-March, the Latvian Security Service said that it had started criminal proceedings against then MEP Zdanoka for alleged cooperation with Russian special services.

At the end of January, the Security Service told the media that it would assess information on Zdanoka's possible collaboration with Russian intelligence agencies.

Leaked emails reveal that Zdanoka regularly reported to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) about her activities and asked for money to organize events at least since 2004, but she denies cooperation with Russian intelligence services and refers to her contacts as a youth friend, the Baltic Centre for Investigative Journalism Re:Baltica reported in May.

In a statement to the media, Zdanoka did not deny the authenticity of the emails but emphasized that she considered it unacceptable to comment on the content of personal documents obtained through hacking. She also attempted to link the media publication to her alleged "anti-fascist activities."

"I would like to bring to public attention the fact that unauthorized hacking into personal emails is impermissible. These actions qualify as theft of personal data, which is a criminal offense in itself," Zdanoka said in her statement, in which she claimed that she has "not cooperated and does not cooperate with any other special services."

At the end of January, the Security Service stated that until 2016, assisting a foreign state or a foreign organization in taking action against the Latvian state was not a criminal offense under Latvian legislation. Therefore, Zdanoka's reported activities from 2005 to 2013 did not qualify as a crime.

Although the State Security Service assessed that such actions posed a threat to the Latvian state and informed state officials, decision-makers, and the public, it was not possible to hold such a person accountable for these actions. According to its own assessment, the Security Service "implemented targeted counter-intelligence and operational measures to prevent the identified threats to national security."

Zdanoka's status as a member of the European Parliament, along with the immunity provided by this position, were significant factors facilitating her activities in support of Russia's geopolitical interests.

In 2016, the State Security Service, in cooperation with the Military Intelligence and Security Service and the Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), proposed amending Latvian laws. One of the reasons prompting the Latvian security services to propose these legislative amendments was the threat posed by Russia's so-called compatriot policy and other forms of non-military influence, which were also supported by certain Latvian nationals.

As a result, substantial amendments to the Criminal Law came into effect in 2016, which, among other things, criminalized helping a foreign country take action against the Latvian state. However, it should be noted that these amendments do not apply retroactively, the State Security Service said in a statement.

Terms

latvia