Rosļikovs held in custody as he pledges to return to Latvia on October 4

The Riga City Court ruled on Tuesday not to change the security measure imposed on former Riga City Council member Aleksejs Rosļikovs, meaning his arrest remains in force, the LETA agency confirmed. Rosļikovs is currently in Belarus, where he fled some time ago.

Svetlana Čulkova, chairwoman of the board of the "Stability" party, has said Rosļikovs plans to return to Latvia on October 4, after this autumn's Saeima elections, in which he is running second on the party's Riga list. Rosļikovs himself confirmed the plan, stressing his intention to continue political work on behalf of voters. Asked whether he would return even if the party failed to win seats in parliament, Čulkova gave no clear answer, saying the party is not even considering that scenario.

Background

Earlier, the Riga City Court's Latgale suburb courthouse had already decided to change Rosļikovs's security measure to arrest, at the request of prosecutor Kaspars Andruškins. The decision came in a criminal case in which the politician is accused of inciting national and ethnic hatred. He was simultaneously declared wanted, and proceedings were suspended until he is located.

Rosļikovs has said he did not appear in court and did not return to Latvia because he feared for his life, having received phone threats in which he was told his head would be cut off. He said the State Security Service had offered him six months in a safe house, which he declined, not wanting to wait for the threats to be carried out. Rosļikovs maintains the criminal case against him is politically motivated.

In late May, the Riga City Council decided to revoke Rosļikovs's mandate as a council member because he had missed more than half of council meetings over three months. Earlier this year several other members left the "Stability" party, causing its Saeima faction to collapse since it no longer had the minimum five required lawmakers. The remaining four members continue working as independents.