Food delivery man attacked, six skinheads arrested for racism

On July 31, law enforcement officers detained six representatives of the skinhead subculture, followers of right-wing ideology that represents and supports neo-Nazi ideas. Several homes were also searched.

The detained members of the skinhead subculture attacked food delivery workers of other races and used physical violence against them. These attacks were carried out because according to the ideology of their subculture, only people with white skin color should live in Latvia.

The vice president said that shaved heads or skinheads, also known as “skins” for short, are a subculture. A subculture is a relatively permanent spiritual and material value system within a cultural framework, sometimes formed as an opposition to the mainstream culture of society and considered by most people to be of lower value or harmful. Followers of a subculture usually identify themselves with a certain style – clothing, behavior and language.

The skinhead subculture is divided into more detailed directions, which differ in their views on certain topics. Representatives of the National Socialist (NS) skinheads practice the ideology of National Socialism (neo-Nazism), which is one of the directions of the skinhead subculture. A special cult of the National Service skinheads was formed around the personality of Adolf Hitler and some other leaders of the National Socialist movement. For NS skinheads, appearance plays an important role in their self-identification, the main features of which are a shaved head or an extremely short hairstyle, light blue jeans, a short, black and dark green collarless “zip-up” jacket – according to law enforcement officials, a “bomber” is a military uniform or its individual elements, Nazi symbols, embroidery, emblems, heavy boots, including military boots, mostly black.

On Wednesday, July 31, the Riga City Investigating Judge took security measures against the two suspects – arrest.

According to the third paragraph of Article 78 of the Criminal Code, criminal prosecution is initiated for activities that incite national, ethnic, racial, religious hatred, discord, involve violence, threats or are carried out by organized groups. Such crimes are punishable by deprivation of liberty for up to ten years and suspended supervision for up to three years.

A decision will be made on Thursday, August 1 regarding security measures for the remaining suspects.

Criminal proceedings are currently actively investigating and clarifying the situation.

The Vice President reminded that no one is considered guilty until proven guilty of a criminal offense according to law.