RIGA — Latvia’s newly-appointed Prosecutor General Arvīds Kalniņš said that the police search and seizure of journalist Ilze Nagla’s computer in the hunt for the hacker “Neo” was completely legal.

Amid public denunciations of the seizure by groups such as the The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, journalists across the Latvian media and street protests in Riga, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis requested that [private_supervisor]Kalniņš explain how police had the right to seize the computer.

Kalniņš said that police were justified in the seizure as the electronic information the computer contained could easily be erased or lost and police had already narrowed its list of suspects to Ilmārs Poikāns and had reason to believe information about Poikāns’ involvement in the hacking could be found on Nagla’s computer.

Kalniņš noted that the search and seizure was approved by a Riga Central District Court judge and that evidence from Nagla’s computer is admissible as court evidence against Poikāns.

Nagla is a television journalist for Latvijas Televīzija and her work on the “De Facto” program helped break the story of Neo.

Attack on freedom of the press?

The raid and computer seizure raised the ire of the journalist’s boss and colleagues.

“Of course, we’re indignant,” Mareks Gailītis, LTV’s news director, told the Baltic News Service. “On the one hand, the law protects journalists as they are required to reveal their sources only by court order. On the other hand, if police turn up on someone’s house and seize the computer, the situation becomes absurd. How are journalists supposed to work if they cannot lawfully protect their information sources?”

More than 140 of Latvia’s top journalists, including the editors of its most prominent newspapers have signed a petition this month criticizing the country’s state police for the confiscation of Ilze Nagla’s computer on Wednesday as part of the investigation of the hacker “Neo.”

The list includes Dace Andersone, the editor-in-chief of Diena; Aleksandrs Krasņitskis, the editor of Telegraf; Pēteris Zirnis, LETA chief editor; Nellija Ločmele, the Cita Diena editor and Juris Paiders, president of the Latvian Journalists Union.

“The I. Nagla case is just one of an extremely worrying trend of events. Already for a long period of time we have observed an alarming trend — more and more important information to the public disappears under secrecy, restricted access,” the petition read.

Meanwhile other Latvian public figures have gone further, praising the actions of Ilmārs Poikāns, who confessed to being “Neo” earlier this month.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of Latvia’s most-popular newspaper Diena and one of the founders of The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, a new nonprofit organization focusing on transparency and popular involvement in politics, issued a statement to the press on behalf of the society.

“Neo published information the public has the right to know … the taxpayer has the right to know how each lat of their paid money is spent,” Ēlerte’s statement said. “For years when journalists asked for this information … it was hidden, under the pretext of personal privacy.”

— Baltic Reports reporter James Dahl contributed to this article. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]Kalniņš explain how police had the right to seize the computer.

Kalniņš said that police were justified in the seizure as the electronic information the computer contained could easily be erased or lost and police had already narrowed its list of suspects to Ilmārs Poikāns and had reason to believe information about Poikāns’ involvement in the hacking could be found on Nagla’s computer.

Kalniņš noted that the search and seizure was approved by a Riga Central District Court judge and that evidence from Nagla’s computer is admissible as court evidence against Poikāns.

Nagla is a television journalist for Latvijas Televīzija and her work on the “De Facto” program helped break the story of Neo.

Attack on freedom of the press?

The raid and computer seizure raised the ire of the journalist’s boss and colleagues.

“Of course, we’re indignant,” Mareks Gailītis, LTV’s news director, told the Baltic News Service. “On the one hand, the law protects journalists as they are required to reveal their sources only by court order. On the other hand, if police turn up on someone’s house and seize the computer, the situation becomes absurd. How are journalists supposed to work if they cannot lawfully protect their information sources?”

More than 140 of Latvia’s top journalists, including the editors of its most prominent newspapers have signed a petition this month criticizing the country’s state police for the confiscation of Ilze Nagla’s computer on Wednesday as part of the investigation of the hacker “Neo.”

The list includes Dace Andersone, the editor-in-chief of Diena; Aleksandrs Krasņitskis, the editor of Telegraf; Pēteris Zirnis, LETA chief editor; Nellija Ločmele, the Cita Diena editor and Juris Paiders, president of the Latvian Journalists Union.

“The I. Nagla case is just one of an extremely worrying trend of events. Already for a long period of time we have observed an alarming trend — more and more important information to the public disappears under secrecy, restricted access,” the petition read.

Meanwhile other Latvian public figures have gone further, praising the actions of Ilmārs Poikāns, who confessed to being “Neo” earlier this month.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of Latvia’s most-popular newspaper Diena and one of the founders of The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, a new nonprofit organization focusing on transparency and popular involvement in politics, issued a statement to the press on behalf of the society.

“Neo published information the public has the right to know … the taxpayer has the right to know how each lat of their paid money is spent,” Ēlerte’s statement said. “For years when journalists asked for this information … it was hidden, under the pretext of personal privacy.”

— Baltic Reports reporter James Dahl contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]Kalniņš explain how police had the right to seize the computer.

Kalniņš said that police were justified in the seizure as the electronic information the computer contained could easily be erased or lost and police had already narrowed its list of suspects to Ilmārs Poikāns and had reason to believe information about Poikāns’ involvement in the hacking could be found on Nagla’s computer.

Kalniņš noted that the search and seizure was approved by a Riga Central District Court judge and that evidence from Nagla’s computer is admissible as court evidence against Poikāns.

Nagla is a television journalist for Latvijas Televīzija and her work on the “De Facto” program helped break the story of Neo.

Attack on freedom of the press?

The raid and computer seizure raised the ire of the journalist’s boss and colleagues.

“Of course, we’re indignant,” Mareks Gailītis, LTV’s news director, told the Baltic News Service. “On the one hand, the law protects journalists as they are required to reveal their sources only by court order. On the other hand, if police turn up on someone’s house and seize the computer, the situation becomes absurd. How are journalists supposed to work if they cannot lawfully protect their information sources?”

More than 140 of Latvia’s top journalists, including the editors of its most prominent newspapers have signed a petition this month criticizing the country’s state police for the confiscation of Ilze Nagla’s computer on Wednesday as part of the investigation of the hacker “Neo.”

The list includes Dace Andersone, the editor-in-chief of Diena; Aleksandrs Krasņitskis, the editor of Telegraf; Pēteris Zirnis, LETA chief editor; Nellija Ločmele, the Cita Diena editor and Juris Paiders, president of the Latvian Journalists Union.

“The I. Nagla case is just one of an extremely worrying trend of events. Already for a long period of time we have observed an alarming trend — more and more important information to the public disappears under secrecy, restricted access,” the petition read.

Meanwhile other Latvian public figures have gone further, praising the actions of Ilmārs Poikāns, who confessed to being “Neo” earlier this month.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of Latvia’s most-popular newspaper Diena and one of the founders of The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, a new nonprofit organization focusing on transparency and popular involvement in politics, issued a statement to the press on behalf of the society.

“Neo published information the public has the right to know … the taxpayer has the right to know how each lat of their paid money is spent,” Ēlerte’s statement said. “For years when journalists asked for this information … it was hidden, under the pretext of personal privacy.”

— Baltic Reports reporter James Dahl contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]Kalniņš explain how police had the right to seize the computer.

Kalniņš said that police were justified in the seizure as the electronic information the computer contained could easily be erased or lost and police had already narrowed its list of suspects to Ilmārs Poikāns and had reason to believe information about Poikāns’ involvement in the hacking could be found on Nagla’s computer.

Kalniņš noted that the search and seizure was approved by a Riga Central District Court judge and that evidence from Nagla’s computer is admissible as court evidence against Poikāns.

Nagla is a television journalist for Latvijas Televīzija and her work on the “De Facto” program helped break the story of Neo.

Attack on freedom of the press?

The raid and computer seizure raised the ire of the journalist’s boss and colleagues.

“Of course, we’re indignant,” Mareks Gailītis, LTV’s news director, told the Baltic News Service. “On the one hand, the law protects journalists as they are required to reveal their sources only by court order. On the other hand, if police turn up on someone’s house and seize the computer, the situation becomes absurd. How are journalists supposed to work if they cannot lawfully protect their information sources?”

More than 140 of Latvia’s top journalists, including the editors of its most prominent newspapers have signed a petition this month criticizing the country’s state police for the confiscation of Ilze Nagla’s computer on Wednesday as part of the investigation of the hacker “Neo.”

The list includes Dace Andersone, the editor-in-chief of Diena; Aleksandrs Krasņitskis, the editor of Telegraf; Pēteris Zirnis, LETA chief editor; Nellija Ločmele, the Cita Diena editor and Juris Paiders, president of the Latvian Journalists Union.

“The I. Nagla case is just one of an extremely worrying trend of events. Already for a long period of time we have observed an alarming trend — more and more important information to the public disappears under secrecy, restricted access,” the petition read.

Meanwhile other Latvian public figures have gone further, praising the actions of Ilmārs Poikāns, who confessed to being “Neo” earlier this month.

Sarmīte Ēlerte, the former editor-in-chief of Latvia’s most-popular newspaper Diena and one of the founders of The Meierovics Society for Progressive Change, a new nonprofit organization focusing on transparency and popular involvement in politics, issued a statement to the press on behalf of the society.

“Neo published information the public has the right to know … the taxpayer has the right to know how each lat of their paid money is spent,” Ēlerte’s statement said. “For years when journalists asked for this information … it was hidden, under the pretext of personal privacy.”

— Baltic Reports reporter James Dahl contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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