“I was wondering about the handshake when greeting…” People comment on the video where the politician, while leading the meeting, turns to the woman’s feet (17)

The Executive Director of the Jelgava County Council, Lonerte, told Latvian Television’s “Panorāma” program that she knew of cases where employees approached the Ombudsman or the State Labor Inspectorate about the chairman’s behavior towards them, including possible sexual acts.

“There was a precedent when one of the employees, who chose to terminate the employment relationship, appealed to the Ombudsman. They appealed to the Labor Inspectorate because, in her opinion, the chairman had mobbed her as an employee. (..) This report also contained one phrase about the fact that she has identified that it could be a sexual trait,” Lonerte told the Panorama program.

Artis Pabriks (LA), the co-chairman of the board of the party “Latvijas vysvetėnai” said that he is outside Latvia and was not informed about the actions of his party member Lasmanis. “If necessary, the incident will be evaluated at the meeting of the party board,” Pabriks promised.

On the other hand, the co-chairman of the board of “Latvijas vysvetės” Juris Pūce informed that he had watched the fragment of the recording of the commission’s meeting made public on social networks. He believes that there is no evidence that the chairman of the council Lasmanis acted illegally.

“Only a leg and an arm are visible in that video, which is nothing unethical or illegal,” said Puce. He is said to have contacted Lasmani and found out what is the “context why this record is now public”. As Lasmans had a long-term conflict with executive director Lonerti, Puce expressed the party’s view on the situation.

Puce emphasized that this issue will be assessed by the party’s Ethics Commission.