On Thursday, on the morning of Lāčplēsis Day, a short message appeared on the website of the Constitution Protection Bureau (CPB): “NEWS: On the night of November 11, the Director of the Constitution Protection Bureau Jānis Maizītis passed away.
Jānis Maizītis was born on July 18, 1961, in Cēsis. He started his career as an investigator, later as a chief prosecutor. From 2000 to 2010 he was the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Latvia. 2010-2011 he was an Adviser to the Minister of Justice. From 2011 to 2013 he was the National Security Adviser to the President, Secretary of the National Security Council. Jānis Maizītis has been managing the Constitution Protection Bureau since May 2, 2013. Maizītis was also a lecturer at the University of Latvia and the author of multiple scientific publications. He was awarded the commemorative badge as a participant of the 1991 barricades, the Medal of Honor of the Judicial System and the Order of the Three Stars, 2nd Class. He was a true Latvian patriot, an honorable man, an outstanding lawyer and a caring father...”
Jānis Maizītis was one of the most frequently interviewed Prosecutors General by Neatkarīgā.
For ten years from May 2000 to May 2010, J. Maizītis was also one of the most criticized officials by Neatkarīgā. Most criticized and most interviewed.
It seems absurd - why give interviews to someone who keeps criticizing? However, it was natural. One of the authors of these lines knew J. Maizītis from their school years at the Cēsis eight-year school no. 2. Therefore, his nomination and confirmation as Prosecutor General did not come as a surprise. Honesty and obedience to the law, respect and regard for law and order had been instilled in J. Maizītis as a child. These qualities did not change, both when he held the position of Prosecutor General, Adviser to the President, and Director of the CPB.
Although Neatkarīgā and J. Maizītis often had different understandings about the criminal proceedings, the quality of the Criminal Procedure Law, its application in life, the honesty, ability to be politically influenced and material interest of prosecutors in this or that criminal proceedings, we were always able to talk and debate.
J. Maizītis trusted his prosecutors, never criticized colleagues from other branches of power, nor politicians. He usually kept quiet about the latter in order not to lie or pretend. Colleagues from other media often complained that it was difficult to interview J. Maizītis because he gave very short answers. He did. But that's that charm. The shorter the answers, the more questions you can ask. The more competent the questions, the more accurate the answers. Interviewing Maizītis meant careful preparation - like taking an exam at a university. For example, Neatkarīgā studied the Law on Criminal Procedure largely due to the need to prepare for interviews with the Prosecutor General. J. Maizītis liked questions, especially the competent, unexpected questions. He liked to answer them. The answers were mostly short because he was always very careful. Say a word too much, and it could affect this or that criminal case or break the veil of secrecy over a state secret.
With the running of the secret service, the wrinkle of concern in J. Maizītis' forehead grew deeper. Although he did not say it openly and tried not to show it in any other way, Neatkarīgā saw and understood that what he learned as the head of the CPB had thoroughly stunned and shocked him, the law-abiding prosecutor. Most likely, he was forced to see clearly and know in detail what Neatkarīgā could only surmise and write about in a form of assumption. Write about the fact that his colleagues in the prosecutor's office, CPB and KNAB are not the angels that are pretending to be. It is a great challenge to find out that the officials he trusted, defended and advocated for as the Prosecutor General have faces other than the angelic ones, which we wrote about but he could not believe it.
Although the media often mentions his hobby - collecting beer mugs, in one of the conversations with the recorder turned off, he admitted that he already had too many mugs and that he had slowed down collecting them. From the outside, it seemed that his real hobbies were his students and lectures at the University of Latvia, as well as trips to his hometown of Cēsis. Although J. Maizītis worked and lived in Riga, he was always with Cēsis and Cēsians in his heart. Cēsis became especially close to him when his circle of friends and acquaintances narrowed even more while working in the secret institution.
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The last Neatkarīgā's interview with J. Maizītis took place in our office three years ago - in November 2018. The place of the interview was probably chosen because the head of the state special service could not invite the journalists to his work - at the CPB headquarters on Miera Street or, even worse, to a secret building or a secret apartment.
As befits the representative of the special services, the director of the CPB found the location of Neatkarīgā in the large and rather complicated Baron's Quarter without any questions. He arrived unaccompanied at the Neatkarīgā editorial office, refused the offered coffee, did not touch the sweets brought by the secretary. He spoke evasively, but he allowed himself to say some interesting things at the time.
For example, when the journalists of Neatkarīgā kept questioning how CPB had once verified the identity of Juta Strīķe (now also passed away), J. Maizītis first emphasized that the checks had taken place before he took office: “Then I have to talk about the stage when I was not in charge of the CPB, and I would have to publicly disclose the situation I saw when I read the case file. I will not do it publicly."
When Neatkarīgā continued to ask,
"Can we assume from what you said that you were unpleasantly surprised to see Mrs Strīķe's inspection file?"
"I will not say anything. Documents are documents, and there could always be more, and they could be more accurate - that might be my answer.”
It must be admitted that at that time the director of the CPB dared to say a lot and J. Strīķe no longer held a position that would require admission to a state secret. Admission to a state secret seems to be possible only when the identity of the person is clear.
In the interview, J. Maizītis clearly and unequivocally opposed the idea of merging the special services and the KNAB in one security institution, then proposed by the New Conservative Party (Jaunā konservatīvā partija), even though the representative of the New Conservative Party was running for the post of prime minister: “I am against such ideas as merging services. It is a return to the mid-1990s, when the CPB did not yet exist, when intelligence, counter-intelligence and police functions, including the fight against corruption, were concentrated in one institution, the Security Police. This is systemically wrong. In fact, it is a return to one big monster in ancient times - the KGB. At that time, all the information was concentrated in one institution and it was not possible to compare this information. The information obtained must always be compared and its reliability assessed."
But he also acknowledged: "As a security institution, we are the last ones who want conflicts with politicians. We have a lot to do and the conflict with even one politician saps the strength of the security authority."
The interview ended with a joke: "I hope that, thanks to our expressed position, our agents have heard that we will protect them, just as journalists protect their sources."
Neatkarīgā: "If we do not protect our sources, we will lose our jobs, we will lose our daily bread."
J. Maizītis: "Then only Maizītis will remain. (Laughs)" [Maizītis - diminutive form of maize, Latvian word for bread]
And now Maizītis is no more…