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The first news about Latvian skinheads appeared in the mid-1990s. Initially, they were more like urban legends: people talked a lot about them, but few saw them. Almost anyone wearing camouflage military-style pants, a bomber jacket and high lace-up boots was considered a skinhead.
Later it became known that a local branch of the Russian far-right nationalist group “Russian National Unity” (KNV) was active in Latvia. However, the local “Balkashov faction” (named after the last name of the movement’s founder, Alexander Balkasov) never considered themselves skinheads, their ideology was not based on racism or ethnic hatred, and they did not attack people of a different skin color or religious belief.
Read more: Skinheads in Latvia: Who are they, what ideas do they bring and where to find them
Desecration of Jewish cemeteries
Skinheads in Latvia first came to the attention of law enforcement authorities in late 2003, when the New Jewish Cemetery in Rigasmeri was found vandalized. The Jewish cemetery on Lizuma Street was desecrated on September 13, 2003 – vandals desecrated the monuments and painted yellow symbols and Nazi slogans on them.
After the incident, the police tracked down several people who claimed to be skinheads. Subsequently, the Riga District Court sentenced them to conditional imprisonment:
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