Case Against Priest Suspected of Human Trafficking Handed Over for Criminal Prosecution

RIGA, Feb 22 (LETA) - The human trafficking case against Priest Pavels Zeila, dean of the Rezekne-Aglona deanery of the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia, has been handed over for criminal prosecution.

Without mentioning specific names, State Police spokeswoman Simona Gravite informed LETA that the police unit for combating trafficking and pimping has handed over a case against three persons to the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to information obtained by LETA, Zeila is one of the men, and is suspected of human trafficking. The other two men are suspected of carrying out sexual crimes.

As reported, in August of last year, the police unit for combating trafficking and pimping received information from a nongovernmental organization that several men might have been sexually abusing a defenseless, mentally retarded adult male.

On August 29, 2018, investigators in Riga and Rezekne detained three persons, born in 1945, 1955 and 1958. One of them was a clergyman. The law enforcement officers also conducted two searches in Riga and Rezekne and seized various video and photo files to check them...