Jānis Ādamsons

Early life Ādamsons graduated from the Kiev Higher Naval School, which is now the location of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, in 1979 as a navigator and then served in the Soviet Union's Far East (Shikotan, Sakhalin, Nakhodka) with the border troops for ten years. He was released from active duty on 25 November 1994. He was then appointed as Interior Minister in early 1995 after a large number of prisoners escaped, and Girts Kristovskis resigned.

Latvian Way In June 1995, Ādamsons' name was submitted by the Latvian Way party as a potential deputy in the general elections. During the campaign, it was suggested that he was not legally discharged from military service, and as such was ineligible to stand as a party candidate.

In October 1995, the Latvian Way party won 14.6% of the votes in the general election, giving them 17 mandates in the Saeima, of which Ādamsons was one. He was removed as Interior Minister, and instead became an acting member of parliament.

Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party

On 25 September 1996 Ādamsons resigned from the Latvian Way party, and a month later joined the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party. Party insiders acknowledged that he had wanted to leave for some time, Ādamsons cited his opposition to Andris Šķēle as the main reason for leaving.

In 1997 Ādamsons served as the head of the communications committee at the Baltic Assembly. In October of the same year he was elected to be Chairman of the LSDW.

Accusations against Andris Šķēle

Throughout late 1995 to early 1996, Ādamsons accused then Prime Minister Andris Šķēle of provoking unrest with border and custom officials by deliberately and illegally sending through fake smugglers. He also accused Andris of embezzling 'foreign credits', and of deliberately bankrupting state-run industries in the interest of privatizing the personally profiting from them. Ādamsons was himself investigated to see whether or not this constituted slander.

On 15 July 1996, Ādamsons went on television once again to accuse Šķēle of corruption, but also inferred that masons were partially responsible for the internal unrest in the government.

In 2000 Ādamsons. who was assisting with a 12-year investigation into the matter, publicly named Šķēle as a member of a ring of pedophiles selling young boys for sex.

Removal from Parliament and appeal In 2000, Ādamsons was removed from parliament after evidence surfaced that he had previously worked in collaboration with the KGB. An investigation ruled that as a member of the coast guard during soviet rule, he was subservient to the agency. He was convicted and sentenced to 8.5 years for spying for Russia on 9 November 2023, along with a Russian accomplice.

Personal life Ādamsons credits his belief in 'Eastern Religions' and reincarnation as the reason "why I am so calm when it comes to the activities of dark forces, including masons' activities, everything that is taking place in Latvia. The light will win anyhow".

Controversy In December 1996, Ādamsons left his loaded firearm hidden under a stack of paper during a meeting in the Saeima. This led to a permanent ban on handguns in the building.