Procession in Riga commemorates victims of Soviet communist regime

RIGA - A procession was held in Riga on Tuesday to commemorate victims of the Soviet Union's communist regime, LETA observed. 

The procession was joined by around 50 people, including several state officials, including Saeima Speaker Inara Murniece (National Alliance). 

For the first time, the annual commemorative event started by gathering by the History Tactile, a recently unveiled memorial to the victims of the Soviet occupation. 

Latvia today honors the memory of victims of Communist genocide and around 16,000 residents of Latvia who were deported to Siberia on June 14, 1941.

According to data from the Latvian State Archive, Latvia lost more than 15,425 people in the June 14 deportations, including ethnic Latvians, Jews, Russians, Poles and representatives of other ethnic groups.

As many as 3,751 of the deportees were children younger than 16. During the deportations, men were separated from their families and taken to Gulag camps where many of them were executed, while others were imprisoned for years.