Andrejs Judins, Chair of the Saeima Legal Affairs Committee and a member of the “New Unity” party, has come under fire for alleged emotional abuse of a committee staff member, Latvian Radio reported on October 14.
Linda Liepiņa, an MP from the opposition party Latvia First, has publicly reported the incident after receiving a complaint from the staff member’s husband. The complaint describes an incident that took place in the Saeima this week, following which the woman required medical attention. Liepiņa is calling for an investigation into Judins’ conduct and is urging that he be suspended from six Saeima sittings.
The staff member’s complaint
Latvian Television and Latvian Radio have obtained complaints from both the employee herself and her husband regarding alleged emotional abuse by Andrejs Judins.
The submissions describe an incident that took place on Tuesday, 13 October, following a meeting of the Saeima Legal Affairs Committee. As the employee states, Judins entered her office, where she was alone at the time, and began speaking to her in a hostile tone.
The woman wanted to leave the office because she was afraid of being in the same room as the MP.
She goes on to write: “I wanted to leave my office because I was afraid of being in the same room as Andrejs Judins. Specifically, I went over to the door and tried to open it. Andrejs Judins held the door shut with his hand and wouldn’t let me open it and leave the room. I had the feeling that he might use physical force if I tried to open the door, which made me fear for my safety.”
After a short while, the MP reportedly let go of the door, and the woman went into the neighbouring office, but Judins followed her. The employee also claims that this is not the first time she has experienced such behaviour. She points out that the emotional abuse has continued for all four years, but she has remained silent about it until now.
Following Tuesday’s incident, the woman fell ill, and her colleagues called for emergency medical assistance. The employee has approached the Saeima administration, asking them to investigate Judins’ behaviour and ensure safe working conditions. Meanwhile, her husband has approached MP Liepiņa, calling on her to assess whether Judins’ behaviour complies with the ethical standards expected of an MP.
Liepiņa states that the employee’s family members have approached her, asking for help in ensuring that Judins’ conduct is investigated. She also has in her possession the employee’s own submission to the Saeima administration. Liepiņa believes that what has happened is not an isolated incident, but rather the result of prolonged unacceptable behaviour. She claims that she herself has previously observed Judins’ intolerant behaviour towards other people.
“I don’t think this is even a question of whether it is physical, emotional or some other form of [abuse] – this is long-standing behaviour directed at a Saeima employee who has received very positive feedback on her work. I can personally say that, having worked on the Legal Affairs Committee for a long time, I have myself observed on several occasions how Mr Judins behaves intolerantly, displaying signs of mobbing and bossing, both towards people invited to participate as members of the Legal Affairs Committee and towards Members of the Saeima. “There are some people who still choose to remain silent, because keeping quiet is the easiest option,” says the MP.
Liepiņa has announced that she will approach the Saeima Committee on Mandates, Ethics and Petitions, urging it to assess Judins’ conduct and exclude him from six parliamentary sittings. The committee has promised to consider the matter as soon as it receives the relevant submission. Liepiņa has also called on Judins to relinquish his mandate as a Member of the Saeima.
According to her, reports regarding the incident have also been submitted to the State Police and the State Labour Inspectorate.
Judins himself categorically denies the allegations of violence against a Saeima staff member, calling them slander and defamation. He explains that on Tuesday he informed the Saeima administration of several, in his view, significant breaches in the staff member’s work. For example, whilst preparing the table of proposed amendments for the third reading of a bill, she had failed to include a proposal that had already been supported by the Saeima, and had previously made an error in the text of the bill itself. Furthermore, the staff member had reportedly failed to invite a Member of Parliament to a committee meeting and had not always adhered to the prescribed working hours.
In Judins’ view, the woman reacted emotionally to the criticism, but the allegations of violence are untrue.
Edmunds Jurēvics, leader of the New Unity parliamentary group, points out that Judins has denied the allegations levelled against him both to the party and publicly, and has promised to cooperate with the Saeima administration in assessing what happened.
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