Minister calls for Salford to be blacklisted

  • 2004-12-22
  • By TBT staff
RIGA - A Latvian citizen, Sergejs Pacejs, was in critical condition in a Manchester hospital nearly two weeks after a mob numbering around 20 youths attacked him, along with another Latvian and an Estonian woman.

The three were targeted by the attackers for speaking Russian, police said.

Pacejs, previously a chef in the Latvian military and now a guest worker in the U.K., was stabbed with a screwdriver in the head and is now on life support. He has four children.

Pacejs' mother went to Manchester and termed the attack "inhuman."

Sanita Jemberga, a journalist from the Latvian daily Diena, told The Independent, a British publication, that she was verbally assaulted by two girls during a trip to Manchester, adding it was likely due to her accent in English.

While some British media reported that Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks wanted to place Salford on an EU blacklist of places dangerous to foreigners, his press secretary said there was little truth to that.

Pabriks is considering creating an information database for Latvians who want to work within the EU, informing them what to expect in other countries, Dagnija Stukena, the Foreign Minister's press secretary said.