Intolerance, homophobia and violence have no place in our society - Karins

  • 2021-04-27
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - Intolerance, homophobia and violence have no place in our society, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) said on Monday after the coalition meeting in connection with a recent tragic incident in Tukums.

The public needs clarity about what happened in Tukums, the Prime Minister said in response to a question LETA.

Asked whether the investigation into the Tukums incident could be carried out centrally at the national level, Maris Mozvillo (KPV LV), head of the Saeima faction of KPV LV, expressed confidence that Interior Minister Sandis Girgens (KPV LV) is working hard to uncover this crime.

Mozvillo pointed out that the interior affairs sector has been facing deplorable funding for years. The politician positively assessed the fact that President Egils Levits and Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) have expressed support for investments in the interior affairs sector in the future.

Minister of Justice Janis Bordans (New Conservative Party) pointed out that it is possible to work on improving policing. If someone submits a report to police regarding threats made and is associated with a hate crime, then the police must act proactively to protect the potential victim, the politician said.

Meanwhile, Daniel Pavluts, the co-chair of For Development and Minister of Health, said that he had spoken to the Minister of the Interior Girgens, who had confirmed that he was following the investigation and whether the previously expressed threats had been properly responded to. For Development's faction at Saeima has initiated amendments that would envisage clarifying the responsibility of a person for crimes related to social hatred, the leader of the party association pointed out.

Raivis Dzintars, the leader of the National Alliance, called on socially active people not to use this situation to increase political capital, because "inhumanity is inhumanity", regardless of the person against whom it is directed against.

As reported, police are investigating an incident that happened in Tukums last week, in which a fire broke out in an apartment and two persons suffered burns - one of them serious. It has been reported in the media that this could have been a homophobic hate crime, taking into account the sexual orientation of the men involved.