MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Moscow strongly condemns the ongoing political terror against Russian-speaking human rights activists and reporters, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on Friday.
On Thursday, a Latvian court issued a ruling against local activist Alexander Gaponenko within the criminal case on inciting ethnic hatred. "We strongly condemn the ongoing political terror against leaders of the Russian-language human rights movement and the journalist community in Latvia," Zakharova said.
The diplomat noted that Russia does not see any distortion of historical facts in Gaponenko’s statements. "He only stated that in the 1930s and the 1940s, many citizens of Latvia voluntarily cooperated with Nazi Germany," she added.
Zakharova also expressed her regret over the violation of basic democratic rights in Latvia. "By doubling down on repressions against human rights activists and trying to silence them, the ruling nationalist leadership of Latvia practically shows its spiritual kinship to the pre-war pro-Nazi regime of Karlis Ulmanis," she said.
On April 20, 2018, the Latvian State Security Service informed that Gaponenko had been arrested. He was later released from custody but forbidden from leaving Riga. Criminal proceedings were launched against Gaponenko for inciting ethnic hatred. Gaponenko links his arrest to his posts on social media and his activity against the reform aimed to switch all schools of national minorities to the Latvian language.