Latvia's former Communist boss was convicted Friday of conspiring to overthrow the Latvian government during the failed August 1991 hard-line Soviet coup and sentenced to eight years in prison.
Alfred Rubiks, the only Communist leader to be convicted for backing the attempted coup in Moscow, was sentenced to eight years in prison by Latvia's Supreme Court in Riga, the capital. He had faced a maximum 15 years in prison. His trial began about two years ago.Rubiks was arrested by Latvian police immediately after the putsch against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev unraveled in Moscow. He will be given credit for the nearly four years he has spent in a prison on the outskirts of Riga.
The eight leaders of the coup were granted amnesty by the Russian parliament in early 1994. The amnesty, however, did not apply to events in Latvia and the other republics which became independent.