The Simon Wiesenthal Center revealed today that the Latvian government had indicated
that it planned to take disciplinary measures against a prosecutor
who had harassed a Latvian citizen who had submitted information
regarding a suspected Latvian Nazi war criminal to the Center
in the framework of its “Operation: Last Chance.” In the case in question, the prosecutor Vija Popova had pressured Bauska resident
Larissa Grekova to sign a false affidavit indicating that she
has no evidence whatsoever against a suspected Latvian Nazi
war criminal whose name she had submitted to the Center based
on survivor testimony. When Grekova refused to sign the affidavit,
Popova asked her whether she or her mother were Jewish (neither
is) and reprimanded her for ”compromising Latvia” by submitting information to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Upon learning of this
incident from Grekova, the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff immediately submitted a protest of Popova’s conduct to Latvian General Prosecutor Janis Maizitis.
Zuroff met on Friday in Riga with Maizitis
and leading Justice Ministry officials who informed him that
the ministry had just completed an inquiry into his complaint
and that Popova would be brought before a panel of eleven senior
prosecutors who would recommend a punishment ranging from dismissal
to censure. In response, Zuroff welcomed the decision, but
cautioned that it had to be determined whether Popova acted
on her own or was following guidelines established by her superiors,
a question which was only natural given Latvia’s failure to prosecute a single Latvian Nazi war criminal since it regained its
independence in 1991.
For more information call: 972-51-214156
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