In Riga, organizers of dispersed picket for renaming Dudaev Street will go to court against police actions

The picket "For Riga without Dudaev", which was planned by activists of the Party "For Human Rights in United Latvia" (FHRUL) on August 25 at the building of the Riga City Duma, was dispersed by municipal police soon after some two dozens of local residents grouped around the picketers. Its organizers are going to sue the police and the mayoralty.

Apart from the FHRUL, the "Society for Renaming Dudaev Street" took part in the action, which was dated to the visit of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

The policemen who dispersing the picketers and took posters, where Dudaev was treated as terrorist, from them explained their actions by the fact that the picket was not sanctioned by the mayoralty of Riga.

The policemen's "hot hands" reached Yakov Pliner, Deputy of the Seym of Latvia and chairman of faction of the oppositional FHRUL, Deputy Vladimir Buzaev, journalist Alexandra Turchaninova, veteran of war Nikolai Pashuta and some other people. Many of them were taken to the police, Mr Pliner reports.

According to his story, the application on holding the picket was submitted to the mayoralty in advance, but Alexandra Turchaninova, who signed the application, was orally notified only late at night that the picket was forbidden.

Ms Turchaninova, who lives in Dudaev Street and who was the initiator of creating the society "For Renaming Dudaev Street" said that under the law the picket should have been cancelled six hours prior to its start; however, she was presented the document cancelling the picket only in the morning, when all the people had already gathered at the mayoralty building.

Let us note here that the police drew up an administrative protocol.

Local Chechens did not take part in Dudaev Street renaming disputes. "I think that this is for the simple reason that very few Chechens live in Latvia," political scientist Ruslan Martagov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "As to renaming of the street, in my opinion, it should have been done long ago."

His fellow countryman Zaindi Choltaev is of a bit different opinion: "In general, I don't welcome any renaming of streets, cities, settlements and monument dismantling."