The Russian Foreign Ministry believes this action is "the strengthening of the repressive element" of official Riga's actions "in the face of Russian public's continuing protests in Latvia."
The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that after detention by the police on September 1 in Riga of participants of a peaceful demonstration of Russian-speaking schoolchildren and their parents against the government-pursued policy aimed at curtailment of education in the Russian language scheduled for September 4, Russian citizen Alexander Kazakov, a leader of the Russian schools protection HQ, who had a residential permit in that country, was forcedly deported from Latvia.
"According to the statement by Latvian Interior Minister Eriks Jekabsons, this decision is motivated by that Alexander Kazakov's activity is "aimed at increasing tensions in Latvian society" and creates "a threat to public order and state security," notes the comment.
The Russian Foreign Ministry believes such arguments are not new at all, as well as the Latvian authorities' persistent unwillingness to listen to recommendations by the UN, the Council of Europe and the OSCE in regard to civil, language and educational rights of Latvia's national minorities.
"Heed should also be paid to the legal aspect of this act by Latvian authorities committed with violation of the elementary norms of international law and provisions of bilateral Russian-Latvian documents," reads the comment.
While fully recognizing Latvia's right to determine who from among foreigners can be called persona non grata, the Russian Foreign Ministry recalls the provisions of article 39 of the Consular Convention between the Russian Federation and the Latvian Republic of 1994: "Should any citizen of a represented state be arrested..., competent bodies of the state of stay without delay, within four days notify the consular institution of the represented state [about it]" (clause 1).
The comment also points to violation of clauses 3 and 5 of the Convention, which touch upon the visit a consular official pays to the arrested citizen of the represented state for conversation with him/her, as well as the informing of citizens of the represented state under arrest of this article's provisions. "None of these provisions was observed," said the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian Embassy in Riga officially requested explanations from the Latvian Foreign Ministry on all these aspects.
The comment stresses that the Russian citizen was deprived of a possibility to get in touch with his lawyer and, in line with the Latvian legislation, contend the lawfulness of administrative actions taken against him.
"Such a way to 'conduct dialogue' with one of the activists of the Russian community does not testify to the power of the Latvian state and clearly contradicts the statements of official Riga that Latvia observes European standards in the human rights sphere," stressed the Russian Foreign Ministry.
