The criminal proceedings for the construction of the eastern border have been overgrown with many and various strangeness, which suggests that the story is not just about a wrongly crushed chip on the border guards’ patrol tracks. Firstly, it is not clear why the border guard should be in charge of construction work at all, if its functions are “to ensure the inviolability of the state border and to prevent illegal migration”. This is stated in the Border Guard Law. But historically, this grand construction project was entrusted to construction management amateurs, not state property management and development professionals.
Footbridges too straight
The audit report of the State Audit Office on investments in the construction of the state border, published at the beginning of the year, was simply devastating. The Border Guard has operated “with unprecedented permissiveness and arbitrariness, as if it were not subject to the law”. The audit found illegal activities for at least 7.14 million euros. At the same time, it is not the case that money is stuffed in your pockets. Rather clumsily managed, incorrectly booked. However, this is quite sufficient for a criminal case.
After the border construction scandal broke out, Neatkarīgā interviewed Guntis Pujāta. He stated that Internal Security Office investigators were biased to see violations where they did not exist. For example, footbridges at the border do not accurately copy the bank of a winding river, because it is possible to move straight and faster. Plastic fasteners at the top of the fence have been replaced by metal fasteners because they are cheaper and more durable. As far as illegal logging is concerned, there must be no trees in the border zone, even if it is a protected area. However, all these seemingly logical changes were deviations from the project specification. They were not properly accounted for. No new competitions were held. But the project was signed by Normunds Garbars.
Did not react to illegal actions
For what signatures has criminal proceedings been instituted against Puja? It is apparent from the statement by the Office of Homeland Security that he has not remedied any previous unlawful conduct. Apparently the ones Garbars signed for. Here is an excerpt from the IDB statement:
“Since the beginning of 2018, the Internal Security Bureau has been intensively working on large-scale pre-trial investigations in large-scale complex criminal proceedings related to the construction of the country’s eastern border and engineering equipment. As part of the criminal proceedings related to the construction of the country’s eastern border, today, September 4, the Internal Security Bureau detained a high-ranking State Border Guard official suspected of inaction by failing to respond to illegal actions in Latvia’s eastern border construction.
As a result of the inaction of this high-ranking official of the State Border Guard, the state may have suffered losses of a particularly large amount – several million euros. “
Reputation with a guarantee – ruined
Criminal proceedings are initiated according to Section 319, Paragraph three of the Criminal Law:
‘Failure by a public official to fulfill his obligations, that is to say, where the public official deliberately or negligently fails to take any action which he is required by law or order to prevent damage to public authority or administrative order or the interests of a person protected by law, and significant damage to the power, management or interests of a person protected by law –
(3) Failure to perform the duties of a public official, if serious consequences are caused thereby, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to five years or by temporary deprivation of liberty, or by forced labor, or by a fine, deprivation of the right to hold a certain position temporarily until five years. “
There are no two thoughts that Pujat’s professional reputation has already been ruined by such an entry in the biography. Even if the criminal case ends with a chick.
Own elephant for Puja
It should be reminded that as the border construction scandal spread, criminal proceedings were initiated against other border guard officials and other offenses in parallel. From Pujat’s point of view, the witch hunt had begun:
“Any, even the slightest, excuse is used to initiate criminal proceedings against our employees after the maximum program.” The illustration was illustrated by a number of examples: a criminal case against a border guard lawyer, who, at the request of management, took three presentations home for translation outside working hours. A case concerning a weapon donated by a retired border guard to a border guard that was not properly executed. A case against an employee who drove a car to a moped. Another case – against the former deputy chief for the fact that he, as a pilot himself, has flown at least twice on official duty with a service aircraft. Tiny flies from which mighty elephants are inflated.
Probably now Puja has its own elephant.
In connection with the criminal procedural violations in the cases initiated by the IDB, Pujāts appealed to both the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Saeima. But the result was not what the general hoped for. The IDB continued to dig, including against him, but the border guard was ordered to appear at peace.
The scandal lasted too long
The parallel line of builders is also marked in the story of border construction. After entering the criminal proceedings, the road construction company Igate stated that it was a victim in the struggles of mutual influence between the state power structures and that the case was inspired by competitors to exclude Igati from the Kekava bypass project tender.
Whatever the real causes of the border scandal, the wars of power structures, the rift between businessmen, the change of political clans or the crystal-clear fight against corruption and incompetent leadership, it is clear that this scandal has lasted too long.
The infrastructure of the country’s eastern border is still incomplete, but the State Border Guard has remained unmanaged, which is a national security issue. The Minister of the Interior Sandis Ģirģens has also announced that the Prosecutor General’s Office must give an answer as soon as possible – in the coming days, there are grounds for suspicion against Pujata or not. For the time being, Ivars Ruskulis, Deputy Pujāta in the organization of service, has been appointed the acting head of the State Border Guard. Unlike the other deputy – Colonel Juris Martukāns – Ruskulis has not been detained in the border construction case. At least so far.
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