SHAFAQNA- More than 22 Latvian residents were arrested on Tuesday (09 May 2023) for violating a law prohibiting the celebration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, known as Victory Day. EU and NATO police even confiscated a “Russian” jacket from a man in a wheelchair and arrested another for wearing Soviet medals in public.
As of 11:30 p.m. local time, the Latvian police have reported a total of 26 arrests, 38 misdemeanors, and four criminal cases, according to RT, citing Delphi News. While most cases were recorded in the capital Riga, several arrests were also made in Daugavpils.
Last month, the Latvian parliament described the Victory Day celebrations as “humiliating and undermining the values of Latvia as a democratic and national state, including dividing society, glorifying war, military aggression and totalitarianism, as well as forbade misinterpretation.
Nevertheless, Latvians gathered in droves and laid flowers at cemeteries and memorials. Most of the arrests and citations involved placing flowers in “forbidden places,” where Soviet monuments were once located in Riga before the government demolished them.
Along with its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. About a quarter of the country’s 1.8 million residents are Russian speakers, who often face discrimination.
Source: RT
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