Latvian Economist arrested for being “too pessimistic”
That the Latvian economy is in shambles is no news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7760440.stm
Latvia’s security police arrested the economist, Dmitrijs Smirnovs,
for telling people “Don’t keep money in banks, and don’t keep money in
lats (the Latvian currency). The reason given for the arrest was
"Financial system destabilization”. We was in prison for 48 hours,
being questioned on why he was telling people to withdraw their
savings and not keep their money in the local currency.
For the moment the economist can not leave the country, and is still
under investigation by the “authorities”. According to an interview he
now says he will be more careful about his statements “I don’t want to
go to prison.”