Suspended ministry secretary Edvīns Balševics to face trial over disclosures

Suspended state secretary Edvīns Balševics of Latvia’s Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development will stand trial for allegedly disclosing restricted-access information, including details of state IT procurements, LSM reported.

The prosecutor’s office said it had sent the criminal case to court but did not identify the accused. According to the charges, the official disclosed restricted-access information three times between January 2025 and January 2026 without legal grounds.

In two instances, information was passed to someone who was not an employee of the ministry or its subordinate institutions. One disclosure concerned planned IT procurements by state institutions and their funding. Another involved documents from an administrative case in which the ministry was a party.

In a third instance, the accused allegedly shared internal ministry information about a State Police inquiry into possible violations in the maintenance of the Latvija.gov.lv portal. The information was given to an official of the State Digital Development Agency who was not authorised to receive or use it.

Balševics denies guilt.