Court releases Guščin after nine months in custody

Riga City Court on Wednesday released Viktors Guščin, a longtime activist in Russia’s compatriot policy, who is charged with violating European Union sanctions by providing publications to a Russian propaganda outlet, LSM reported.

The court replaced his detention with police supervision and imposed a ban on leaving Latvia. Guščin was released in the courtroom immediately after the decision, having spent about nine months in custody.

Guščin had requested the change in his security measure. His lawyer, Imma Jansone, welcomed the decision, saying that Guščin’s age and health would prevent him from fleeing the country.

Jansone said the detention had been justified solely by the risk that Guščin could flee to Russia. She confirmed that he had not denied his links to Russia but said he had not travelled there since 2023. She cited his diagnosed diabetes and the need to assist his 95-year-old mother as additional reasons for changing the measure.

Prosecutor Kaspars Ķikuts declined to comment. In court, he said there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Guščin could travel to Russia if released, as he had previously expressed a wish to move there. Guščin received his higher education in Russia, worked there and attended several events in the country.

Regarding the need to care for his mother, the prosecutor said Guščin also had a brother who had probably cared for her until now.

The court had also received personal guarantees for Guščin from Andrejs Pagors, a representative of the Latvian Russian Union who was elected to Jelgava City Council last year from the Sovereign Power and United Young Latvians list.

During the hearing, the court also questioned witness Boruks Raudins, who said he had known Guščin for a long time but had not been in contact with him in recent years.

The next hearing in Guščin’s case is scheduled for 2027.