Toilet break to last five days

RIGA -- Riga's Central District Court has upped the ante for drunken revellers planning to relieve themselves on a Riga landmark by sentencing a Briton to five days in custody 's a far harsher punishment than has been meted out so far.

34-year-old Shirzey Heshmat from London has become the first person charged with urinating on the centrally-located Freedom Monument to be made an example of. Until now, offenders found guilty of similar charges have only had to pay modest fines, though the amounts have been gradually increasing.

Heshmat now has 20 days to appeal the court ruling.

The severity of the sentence is partly as a result of Heshmat choosing to plead not guilty to the charges against him. Most people charged in the past have pleaded guilty in the knowledge that a quick fine will bring the case to a swift conclusion.

However, according to a court statement, Heshmat maintained that he was not actually relieving himself on the best-known symbol of Latvian identity. He said he was simply running up and down the stairs at the back of the monument in a moment of horseplay when his trousers accidentally fell down.

When members of the elite Alfa special police force approached him to effect an arrest, he was attempting to replace his troublesome trousers, he claimed.

The court took into account the fact that Heshmat was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the offense.

The stiff sentence comes soon after Riga mayor Janis Birks voiced concern at the leniency of sentences being handed out to offenders. National Police Chief Aldis Lieljuksis has suggested that a 15-day custodial sentence would be appropriate for similar offenses.

Cases of urinating on the freedom monument have aroused increasing public fury and frustration among locals. The perpetrators are widely perceived to be British and Irish stag parties who become inebriated and then choose to empty their bloated bladders in the shadows of the Freedom Monument, unaware of both its historical significance and the fact that police keep a close watch on it day and night.

Other nationalities including Poles and Norwegians have also been apprehended on or near the Freedom Monument for a variety of reasons, including attempting to scale the monument itself.

In recent months a Scotsman was fined for flashing the contents of his kilt and a New Zealander was arrested for allegedly donning the infamous swimsuit popularised by the movie character Borat and posing for photographs on the monument.

In a coincidental move, Riga City Council has mooted a plan to use the interior of the Freedom Monument as a small exhibition space for special events.

The possibility was discussed Feb. 19 by Guntis Gailitis, director of the Riga Municipal Monument Agency, parliamentary speaker Gundars Daudze, and Riga Mayor Janis Birks.

Currently the 24-square meter space inside the Freedom Monument is used for storage.

Another of the options suggested by Gailitis includes the installation of a plaque to be installed near the monument 's hopefully with its significance boldly displayed in various European languages.