Publicist Lato Lapsa Asks Police to Review Latvian Citizenship Granted to Scientist Born in India
Publicist Lato Lapsa has filed a complaint with the State Police over the Saeima's 15 October vote to grant Latvian citizenship to India-born scientist Divya Kannan Vishwanath. He argues that publicly available information about her education and publications warrants a check.
Latvian publicist Lato Lapsa on 17 October turned to the State Police, asking it to assess whether the information given to the Saeima (Latvia's parliament) about the education and scientific work of India-born scientist Divya Kannan Vishwanath was truthful. The Saeima voted on 15 October to recognise her as a citizen of Latvia, a decision that has since sparked debate on social media.
What the Saeima said about the scientist
Information published by parliament states that Vishwanath holds a doctorate in computer science. Her professional work is linked to information and communication technologies, data science, artificial intelligence and pharmaceutical research. Since 2019, her life and work have been tied to Latvia and the Latvian Academy of Sciences, and since 2024 she has headed the artificial intelligence laboratory at the company SIA "Dr. Vishys", developing a pharmaceutical research and development centre. The leadership of the Academy of Sciences also backed the grant of citizenship, stressing her potential contribution to research, innovation and Latvia's international competitiveness.
Doubts raised on social media
Several social media users compared the details in the scientist's professional profile with search results in scientific publication databases and university catalogues. One woman writes that she could not find matching entries for the listed publications on Google Scholar, PubMed or in the journal catalogue of the publisher Elsevier. She also questions whether the university named as having awarded the doctorate exists in India, and notes that the University of Bombay was renamed the University of Mumbai in 1996. Her LinkedIn profile names a different institution as the source of her doctorate.
The complaint to police
In his submission, Lapsa cites Article 177 of the Criminal Law (fraud) and Article 272 (knowingly providing false information to a state institution). He claims citizenship was obtained by giving the Saeima false information and asks police to decide whether to open criminal proceedings. The complaint is accompanied by six screenshots, the information given to Saeima deputies and links to publicly available databases.
The source does not say whether police have decided to start criminal proceedings.
