RIGA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Latvia's Prosecutor General Eriks Kalnmeiers is facing an inquiry that may lead to his removal from office, a statement released by the Latvian Supreme Court on Thursday suggested.
Supreme Court Chief Judge Ivars Bickovics agreed to open the inquiry at the request of 39 members of the Baltic country's Parliament, the court said.
Supreme Court Justice Marika Senkane has been authorized to carry out the assessment of the prosecutor general's job performance.
The ruling New Conservative Party gathered the 39 lawmakers' signatures under a petition calling for the prosecutor general's assessment after Justice Minister Janis Bordans announced on May 17 that he had lost confidence in Kalnmeiers and accused him of failure to clamp down on money laundering.
The Justice Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office are both authorities in charge of keeping the Latvian financial system in line with international anti-money laundering standards.
Justice Minister Bordans claimed that Kalnmeiers' "attitude and activities threaten the implementation of the recommendations" provided to Latvia by the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and thus also the "financial and economic stability" of Latvia, because a failure to comply with the MONEYVAL recommendations would entail serious reputational consequences for the country.
As recently as in May, Supreme Court Chief Judge Bickovics said he did not see any need to probe the prosecutor general.
