'Russian March' becomes new protest

2007-09-07
From wire reports

RIGA 's The so-called 'Russian March' planned by Russian nationalist groups for Sep. 8 will not go ahead.

On Sep. 7, Riga's administrative district court rejected an appeal by Jevgenijs Osipovs of the Latvian National Democratic Party, who argued that the march should be allowed to proceed, following an earlier ban by a committee of Riga city council.

Police advised the committee not to allow the procession amid fears that the extreme nationalist LNDP would try to provoke violence, though Osipovs denied this to be the case.

Immediately after the ban was confirmed, Osipov told TV reporters that the decision was "rather predictable" and "political."

However, it emerged Sep. 7 that instead of the planned Russian March in Riga onSaturday, the organizers will instead hold a protest against the court's ruling.

Riga City Council spokesman Ugis Vidauskis told the Baltic News Service that an organization calledLatvia's Russian Youth Association, tried to submit a reworded application for the Russian March on Friday, using a
loophole in legislation that allows applications to be submitted even after the deadline has passed, in exceptional circumstances. The court session was defined as an exceptional circumstance.

The organization will stage its protest from 17:00 to 18:00 in Riga city center to voice their disappointment with the court's decision.