1706585757
The treacherous selfie
The show received an anonymous email in early January with two photos attached. In one picture, a man said to be named Alexey Stovbuns was standing and hugging a woman. He wears a white T-shirt with the FDD symbol on the chest. In the second picture, the same Stovbuns posed for a selfie in a street cafe with Igor Bobir, a businessman who died in custody last year and whom the VDD suspected of aiding a foreign country in an act directed against Latvia.
“De facto” collected information – both public and unofficial – confirms that the man in the photo is indeed a Russian citizen Aleksejs Stovbuns and that he is connected to the above-mentioned VDD investigation into activities on behalf of the FDD service are directed against the security of the Latvian state and its citizens.
The program also found that Stovbuns, who may have been connected to Russian special services, had contacts with pro-Kremlin activists in Italy and Serbia.
Italian direction
On one of the portals dedicated to Russian literature, Stovbun describes himself as a trained lawyer, a former journalist, a happy family man and animal lover who spends his free time from work in a house outside the city and writes stories. Only a few articles testify to Stovbun as a journalist. As a correspondent for the Kuban region portal, he reported on relations between Russia and its occupied part of Georgia, South Ossetia, and separatist politicians in Italy.
The attention of the LTV program attracted right-wing Italian politicians and activists who fought for greater autonomy for the Veneto region from Rome, founded the Veneto-Russian Cultural Association, opposed sanctions, and recognized the independence of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk republics. In 2019, pro-Kremlin Italians opened a representative office of the Donetsk People’s Republic in Verona, for which Italy received a note from Ukraine.
Posts on the social network Facebook show that Stovbuns, who is now considered a possible employee of the Russian special service in Latvia, took part in the Veneto-Russia Association event at the beginning of 2019. which was dedicated to business opportunities in Russian-occupied Crimea. The photo taken by Stovbun was used for the article by the Italian version of Sputnik, a Kremlin-funded propaganda portal.
The President of the Veneto-Russia Association, Palmarino Zocatelli, announced in this article that Stovbun encouraged those present to engage in economic cooperation with Russia and that Stovbun will act as an intermediary in organizing the visit of businessmen and politicians from the Veneto region to Krasnodar for communication with the local authorities.
Contacts in Serbia
Although Stowbun has closed his Facebook profile on the social network, some of his posts remain in the depths of the Internet. This suggests that Stovbun also has contacts in Serbia and connections to military circles. For example, when Stovbun commented on the Serbian Defense Ministry’s recording of the tank biathlon competition in Russia, he revealed that he would be there and sympathize with “our teams” – Serbia and Russia. To which a Serbian military officer replied: “Go on, brother!”
In 2020, on the so-called Army Day, Stovbun received a special welcome from pro-Kremlin Serbian journalist Dragana Trifković. She regularly visits Russia and shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine she visited Riga and danced here with the Latvian-Russian activist Aleksandras Gaponenko, known to us as one of the organizers of the Russian-speaking referendum.
Known VDD
When asked whether he knows the name of Aleksei Stovbun and whether he appears in the criminal case documents, Andrejs Podrezs, the lawyer of Rait Dolgova, who was imprisoned in the VDD criminal case, replies: “That is such a provocative question.” If I answer it: “ Yes, it means something to me,” I may reveal information from the file. Maybe I’ll take the liberty of not answering that question since I signed.”
Attorney Podrezs defends one of the four people arrested by VDD last year – a certified detective and former police officer Dolgov. His client was released from custody in the fall on bail of 30,000 euros.
Alla Barbaša, the lawyer of Bobir, who died in custody in November, does not agree to the interview, but when asked if she knew Stovbun, she confirmed that at the request of her lawyer, Stovbun made a written statement in the said criminal’s trial , therefore it is related to the VDD case.
The state security service is mostly laconic in its comments: “We inform you that the VDD is continuing the investigation into the criminal case mentioned and that the Russian citizen mentioned is known to the VDD.” At the same time, the VDD will refrain from making any further statements at the moment.”
The death remains under investigation at the prison
The death of suspect Bobir while in custody certainly does not contribute to the determination of the question of whether to provide assistance to a foreign country in a case against Latvia. In November, his health deteriorated rapidly in Liepāja Prison. Bobira was taken to hospital where her life could not be saved. Bobir was found not guilty but was held in jail on bail.
Bobir’s death sparked speculation. Alexey Stefanov, an employee of the Kremlin Media Group, was one of the first to announce this in Telegram. He referred to an anonymous friend of Bobir and used the words “killed political prisoner.”
Bobir’s death is being investigated by the prison administration. The criminal proceedings have not yet been completed, so the administration will not provide any further explanations.
Bobir’s defense attorney Barbasha claims she knows nothing about the reasons for his death. But while the client was still alive, she complained to the ombudsman about unlawful detention and torture.
The Ombudsman’s Office confirms that such a petition has been received and an investigation has been initiated. “Information is currently being collected and due to the sensitivity of this issue, we therefore refrain from providing more detailed information,” says Ruta Siliņa, Head of the Communications and International Cooperation Department of the Ombudsman’s Office.
The deadline for the review has not yet been set, but from the statement of the representative of the ombudsman office it can be concluded that the clarification of all the issues will not be possible quickly, it is said “de facto”.
“Given the fact that the case is very complicated, I would refrain from making a statement.” [atbildi] for the duration since the audit case is initiated at the discretion and initiative of the Ombudsman. “That is why we are not limited in time by how urgently it should be solved, but of course our interest is in being able to assess as quickly as possible what actually happened there and whether there was a violation of human rights or not,” she says .
Not guilty
Suspect Dolgov is currently struggling with serious health problems. His lawyer says the client’s health deteriorated during detention, prompting a complaint to be lodged with the European Court of Human Rights.
“Right now Raitis [Dolgovs] is being treated in an oncology hospital, his health condition is serious. “He underwent surgery, the tumor was removed and then a recurrence and exacerbation of this disease was noted,” said attorney Podrez.
The lawyer has no news about the progress of the VDD investigation. The equipment and documents seized during the search have still not been returned. “I can confirm that Raitis Dolgov categorically denies the suspicions initially expressed. “He states that he did not carry out such actions,” emphasizes Podrez.
It is “de facto” known that the investigation into possible cooperation with the Russian Federal Security Service relates to events that occurred several years ago. In addition to Bobira and Dolgov, lawyer Alexander Ryabikin was also arrested. The trio had joint companies, several of which were registered at the same address in Riga, on Klijānu Street, where searches were also carried out last year.
Stowbun is silent
The program has no information about what evidence the VDD has linking Stovbun to the Russian FDD.
Stovbun did not respond to the questions sent “de facto”.
#prisoner #dead #task #giver #revealed