Police on alert after Norway tragedy

  • 2011-08-03
  • From wire reports

100 percent safety cannot be guaranteed.

RIGA - Groups of potentially dangerous individuals have been detained in Latvia on several occasions, said Security Police deputy chief, Counter-Terrorism Center head Juris Leitietis in an interview with Latvian State Television’s program ‘Labrit, Latvija!’ (Good Morning, Latvia!) on July 28, as he was commenting on the recent tragedy in Norway, reports news agency LETA. “Yes, groups that could potentially be very dangerous have been found and detained in Latvia,” said Leitietis.
These people had components for making explosives, stocks of ideological literature; they were interested in fight sports. Their objectives, however, were unknown.

Leitietis declined to comment further, which suggests that the people in question are still awaiting trial.
Information exchange is underway with the Norwegian authorities, but so far there has been no need to heighten the level of terror threats, which remains relatively low, in Latvia.
The Baltic region overall is considered peaceful and quiet, but this does not mean that the authorities are not doing anything or are not taking preventive measures. Terrorism evolves and new ways are found to terrorize people, stressed Leitietis. “We cannot guarantee 100 percent safety for Latvia’s residents. That is why people must themselves exercise caution, too,” he said.

Leitietis said that Latvian authorities had checked the manifesto of Norway’s mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, published on the Internet and its entries about Latvia. It has been established that Breivik has not cooperated with any of Latvia’s organizations; furthermore, several of these organizations mentioned in the document do not exist or have changed their name a long time ago.

Security Police Chief Janis Reiniks also says in an interview with daily Diena that the tragic events in Norway prove that it is impossible to guarantee absolute security, because spontaneous or premeditated activities by separate individuals cannot be foreseen. At the same time, everything possible must be done to reduce such risks, unbalanced persons must be timely identified and their potential actions prevented, says Reiniks.

“It has to be said that such ‘soloists’ are hard to identify because they are quite smart and self-organized, they hide their activity and do everything quietly and without witnesses, trying to leave no trace,” stressed Reiniks.
The Security Police note the risk that the Norwegian tragedy may encourage unbalanced persons in other countries, including Latvia, to attempt similar actions that may pose a threat to people, in an attempt to attract attention to themselves.
Reiniks says that the Security Police analyze processes that may contribute to radicalization of society, as well as organizes preventive measures to identify and prevent such risks. The Security Police pay particular attention to leftist and rightist radical and extremist organizations and unofficial groups, which may cause tension in the community.

Both left- and right-wing radical and extremist organizations in Latvia concentrated on traditional dates last year, such as March 16 Latvian Legion Day, May 9 Soviet Victory Day and other days that cause much controversy within Latvia’s populace. They also tried to get involved in the political process and find more supporters, mostly among needy residents.
“It has to be said, though, that these organizations and their activities do not have much support from the people. Lack of strong and educated leaders, insufficient funding, weak ideological and organizational basis are the main reasons why these organizations cannot expand their activities. They try to compensate by organizing provocative public events to attract the attention of the mass media and society,” said Reiniks.

The Security Police expect similar activity this year. The same organizations will try to either get involved or influence political processes ahead of the Saeima emergency elections. “Overall, I have to say that the Security Police are able to prevent these organizations’ potential threat to public order and security,” says Reiniks.