Press restrictions put off

A parliamentary (Saeima) committee has rejected proposals by Latvia's Minister of Justice Gaidis Berzins that would have severely restricted reporting on criminal cases (based on leaked documents and materials made public by the accused). Latvian media had expressed concern that this legislation would have prevented disclosures of such scandals as Jurmalagate, where transcripts of politicians' conversations in an attempt to corrupt the election of the mayor of Jurmala were leaked to the press and television.