Latvian border guards detained two Russian nationals early today for crossing the Latvian-Russian border illegally, BNS reported on May 4.
Latvian State Border Guard chief Gunars Dabolins told BNS that the detained Russians, aged 37 and 22, are residents of Moscow and both have higher education. In Dabolins' words, they did not hide their membership in Russia's National Bolshevik organization.
Both trespassers were held at around 8 a.m. in the "green" border area.
They had Latvian and Estonian currency on them, as well as maps of the border area, a gas pistol, and National Bolshevik publications and badges.
The border guard chief also indicated that the detainees are currently in "board guard custody."
"Now, we will take all the procedural steps to probe the circumstances of the trespassing incident," Dabolins explained, adding that the responsible Russian authorities have been informed about the incident and that they have been asked to cooperate in the investigation.
In line with the Latvian law, trespassers in such cases can be held for up to ten days. "Presently, we are speaking about an administrative offence, because after accession to the EU criminal liability provisions were changed... For now, the probe is under way... We are working to investigate and punish the trespassers," Dabolins said.
