Belgian police searched the apartment of MEP Tatyana Zhdanok

On November 12, 2024, the apartment of MEP Tatiana Zhdanok was searched, independent Latvian journalist Alla Berezovska reported, citing the US magazine Executive Intelligence Review.

The search was carried out on the basis of a warrant issued by a Belgian judge at the request of the Prosecutor General of Latvia.

Tatiana Zhdanok is accused of cooperating with the Russian FSB. She believes that the charges are politically motivated and are related to her participation in the consolidation of the Russian-speaking community in Latvia and dissemination of information about discriminatory policies.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, repression against Zhdanok intensified and she was disqualified from running for office.

In the summer of 2024, Latvia accused Zhdanok of acting in the interests of the Russian Federation. She currently resides in Brussels.

Zhdanok's lawyer is ready to prove her parliamentary immunity, but the decision will be made by a Belgian judicial panel.

The charges against Zhdanok are based on emails stolen after her email was hacked. They were published in The Insider, Re:Baltica, Delfi and Expressen and presented as evidence of Zhdanok's criminal connections.

Despite the SGB recognizing that the law only provides for liability for aiding a foreign state from 2016, they found a letter from 2017 that could form the basis of the prosecution.