Facts in the case of Adamsons v. Latvia
The applicant is a Latvian national, born in 1956.
Having acquired the qualification of "a navigator in charge of military and political issues of the Navy" at the Kiev Higher Naval Political School, the applicant, from October 1979 to May 1992, served in various units of the USSR Committee for State Security Border Guard Forces in the Far East, first as a Naval Military Forces Deputy Ship's Commander for political work; later, after being awarded the rank of the Navy Captain 3rd Rank in May 1987, as a Navy unit headquarters Assistant Chief-of-Staff for intelligence work in Malokurilsk. Shortly before his discharge from the USSR Committee for State Security Border Guard Forces, the applicant held the post of Deputy Commander of the Naval Military Forces Second Training Centre in Nakhodka, in the Primorsky Krai.
After his discharge from service on 7 June 1992, the applicant returned to Latvia, where at his request, he was accepted for active military service in the Defence Forces of the Republic of Latvia. From 14 April to 25 November 1994, the applicant held the post of the Commander of the Border Guard Brigade in the Defence Forces of the Republic of Latvia.
During the period from 10 November 1994 to 21 December 1995, the applicant served as the Minister of the Interior.
On 7 November 1995, the applicant became a deputy of the 6th Saeima from the Latvijas ceļš (The Latvian Way") party. On 20 July 1998, the Documentation Centre for Totalitarism Consequences of the Bureau of Constitutional Defence informed the Praesidium of the 6th Saeima that the applicant, in accordance with records in his officer's service record book, is to be "regarded as a full time officer of the USSR Committee for the State Security". On 28 July 1998, the Praesidium of the 6th Saeima submitted an application to the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the establishment of the fact of the applicant's collaboration with the KGB. On 24 September 1998, the prosecutor's opinion issued by the Prosecutor's Office for Rehabilitation and Special Services Affairs confirmed that the Border Guard Forces of the USSR was a structural unit within the Committee for State Security of the USSR and consequently the applicant is to be regarded a full time officer of the USSR Committee for State Security. Respectively the materials of the applicant's case regarding the establishment of the fact of the applicant's collaboration with the KGB were referred to the Zemgale District court of the Riga City.
On 3 November 1998, the Mandate and Submissions Committee of the 7th Saeima approved the mandates of all the elected deputies, including also the applicant's mandate. This decision was based on the fact that until the court judgment is passed, there exist no grounds for revoking the applicant's parliamentary mandate.
In a judgment of 3 March 2000, the Zemgale District Court found that in the time period from 26 August 1981 to 6 June 1992, the applicant had been a serving officer of the USSR Committee for State Security Border Guard Forces. The applicant appealed against this judgment, but withdrew his complaint later.
On 7 August 2002, the Central Election Commission removed the applicant's name from the electoral list submitted by the Latvian Social Democratic Worker's Party for the elections of the 8th Saeima, because he did not meet the requirements for a deputy candidate under Section 5(5) of the Parliamentary Election Law. On 14 August 2002, the applicant appealed against the Central Election Commission's decision to the Central District Court of the City of Riga. On 20 August, the Central District Court of the City of Riga dismissed the applicant's appeal. The chairman of the Chamber of Civil Cases of the Senate of the Supreme Court lodged a protest with the Senate of the Supreme Court. On 9 September, the Senate of the Supreme Court dismissed the protest, upholding the 20 August 2002 decision by the Central District Court of the City of Riga.
