Late this afternoon the Riga District Administrative court upheld the Riga City Council’s previous decision to not allow the second Riga LGBT Pride Parade which was to take place on Saturday, July 22. Although the details of the reason for the decision are not available at this time, the main reason was the same as that cited by the Riga City Council, which was the fact that they believed that the Parade posed a serious threat to security. Prior to this court decision, there was a meeting between the President of Latvia, Vaira Vike Freiberga and the Prime Minister, Aigars Kalvitis, both of whom denounced the decision of City Council’s decision, stating that it is unacceptable to discriminate on any grounds, including sexual orientation.

The defendants in the case against the Riga City Council were called to court at noon on Friday, July 21. They were initially pleased with the fact that the court had brought in three judges, in an apparent effort to make an objective decision. A representative from the Ministry of the Interior was also present, and after some discussion a decision was taken to make it a closed hearing, because of the fact that classified information from the ministry would be discussed. All were asked to leave the courtroom except for the defendants and other designated officials.

After four hours of deliberation, the court delivered its verdict today, which was to uphold the Riga City Council’s decision to ban the parade, but the motivations for the decision will only be announced on Monday. Much of the information will not be released, however, because it has been classified as a state secret that will remain sealed to the public for the next five years. Participants on both side of the process have signed and agreement not to reveal any of the confidential information that was given to them behind the closed doors of the court.

Members of Latvia’s LGBT organization Mozaika, which brought the suit against the Riga City Council have expressed their shock and disappointment at the court’s decision. “The decision is reflective of not only the failure of the executive branch of government to uphold the basic principles of democracy, but also that of the judicial branch,” said Linda Freimane, founding member and board member of Mozaika and organizer of Riga Pride 2006. The decision of the Administrative Court has turned the debate on LGBT rights in Latvia into a debate on democracy in Latvia in general, and raises the question of whether the country is in fact capable of hosting such a high-security and high-profile event as the NATO Summit in Riga later this year.

Mozaika plans to appeal the court’s decision, which it can do within the next 20 days. If necessary they are also considering the possibility of taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Furthermore, they are considering the possibility of a legal action to gain access to the secret documents that were used as the basis for the Riga City Council’s decision to prohibit the parade, so that they can make a proper evaluation of the threats made against parade participants.

Currently, Mozaika is discussing what public event will take place tomorrow, in place of the Pride Parade. It will not be a march, but it will be a public event, and, most importantly, it will take place fully within the bounds of the law. They are working to attract as much media attention as possible, in order to gain international exposure, which could in turn result in international pressure on the government. This afternoon they hosted a reception in conjunction with Riga Pride and Friendship Days, at which foreign dignitaries from Denmark, Sweden, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States were present.

For more information please contact

Juris Lavrikovs
Mozaika’s Media Coordinator
+371 22 43 1000