A 23-year-old man from Latvia has been sentenced to serve four years in prison after he admitted to manslaughter in the death of a man in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Kaspars Valters was sentenced June 23 for the September 2006 killing of 56-year-old James McDonald, British and Northern Irish media report. He pleaded to manslaughter in May.

McDonald was severely beaten about the head apparently in a robbery attempt, according to media reports. The body of the Dumfries, Scotland, resident was found at a house in Belfast on Sept. 6, 2006. McDonald had been so badly beaten that it took police days to identify him.

The victim had been out drinking and met Valters, who invited him to his apartment for a party, media reports said.

McDonald’s family was outraged that Valters was able to plead to manslaughter rather than face the more serious charge of murder, according to the British newspaper Sunday Mail.

The head of Latvia’s anti-corruption bureau has been fired by the Saeima, while two government ministers survived votes of no confidence June 29.

Aleksejs Loskutovs, under investigation by the government for alleged mismanagement of funds in the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (Korupcijas novēršanas un apkarošanas birojs, KNAB), was sacked on a 52-40 vote.

Earlier in the day, during a special meeting, the Saeima rejected calls of no confidence in Defense Minister Vinets Veldre and Agriculture Minister Mārtiņš Roze. Veldre survived on a 47-41 vote, with three abstentions, while Roze survived on a 49-41 vote, with two abstentions, according to the Saeima’s Web site.

Loskutovs, who according to media reports saw several hundred supporters rally outside the Saeima building, was held responsible for the disappearance of at least LVL 135,000 from the KNAB. However, his supporters argued that Loskutovs has been targeted by the ruling coalition because of his bureau’s success in exposing corruption in the government.

Attempts to removed Loskutovs late last year helped lead to November’s “umbrella revolution” demonstration in Rīga and was a factor in former Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis being forced from power.

The bureau’s assistant director, Juta Strīķe, is expected to fill the director’s job for the time being, the Baltic News Service reported.

The calls for votes of no confidence in Roze and Veldre were initiated by opposition members of parliament. Opposition party New Era (Jaunais laiks) pushed for Roze’s removal, blaming the agriculture minister for problems in Latvia’s dairy and fishing industries. The new party Civil Union (Pilsoniskā sabiedrība) asked for Veldre’s head, saying he has shamed Latvia with his pronouncement and actions. The strangest of these, the party said in a June 13 press release, was the defense minister’s wish to created a mounted honor guard.

The American Latvian Association has thrown its support behind a proposed U.S. Senate resolution that congratulates Latvia on the 90th anniversary of its Nov.18, 1918, declaration of independence and that asks the president to urge Russia’s acknowledgement that the Soviet occupation of the Baltic republics was illegal.

The resolution, S.Con.Res. 87, was introduced June 9 by Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois. Smith and Durbin are co-chairs of the Senate Baltic Caucus.

In a June 27 e-mailed “Call to Action,” the ALA asks supporters to write to their members of Congress urging a vote in favor of the resolution. The ALA also suggests Latvian organizations send delegations to the local offices of members of Congress.

“Because of the political activities this year—national party conventions and election campaigns—Congress will have a short session,” ALA Director of Public Affairs Valdis Pavlovskis writes in the e-mail. “Although Nov. 18 may seem far away, we really do not have much time to get the resolution passed. We have to act immediately.”

The six-point resolution would congratulate Latvia on the anniversary of its declaration of independence, commend the government for implementing reforms and establishing freedoms, and recognize the common goals and shared values of the three Baltic countries. The resolution also would call on the president to issue a proclamation congratulating the people of Latvia and to congratulate the Latvian government.

“Latvia today stands as a model of Western, free-market democracy, and America stands with it,” Smith said in introducing the resolution.

Finally, the resolution would call on the president and the secretary of state to urge Russia’s government “to acknowledge that the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and for the succeeding 51 years was illegal.”

The resolution was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations the same day it was introduced.

“The resolution not only commends Latvia’s successes in nation building, economic development and human rights,” Pavlovskis wrote, “but most importantly it recognizes Russia’s attempts to manipulate Latvia and the other two Baltic countries back into the Russia’s sphere of influence, detaching them from the west.”

Although the resolution does not explictly refer to attempts by Russia to influence Latvia or the other Batic countries, Pavlovskis told Latvians Online that he chose his wording carefully.

“[I]f we, or at least I, look at what Russia is doing, then it is clear to me they want us back and they are working on it,” Pavlovskis said in an e-mail. He cited a string of events, such as Russia’s energy and trade policies, lies about Latvians that appear in the Russian press and the April 2007 cyberattack against Estonia.

The ALA expects Republican Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois will submit a similar resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives. Shimkus is co-chair of the House Baltic Caucus.