Marking anything other than “Europe Day” in Latvia is now a crime against democracy
More than two dozen residents of Latvia were arrested on Tuesday for violating a law against celebrating the Soviet unx’s victory over Nazi Germany, known as Victory Day. The EU and NATO member''s police even seized a “Russia” jacket from a man in a wheelchair, and arrested another for wearing Soviet medals in public.

在拉脱维亚,除了“欧洲日”之外,庆祝任何其他事情都被视为反对民主的罪行。周二,超过二十多名拉脱维亚居民因违反反庆祝苏联战胜纳粹德国的法律(即胜利日)而被逮捕。这个欧盟和北约成员国的警察甚至从一个坐在轮椅上的男人身上没收了一件“俄罗斯”夹克,并逮捕了另一位因在公共场合佩戴苏联勋章而被捕。

By 11:30 pm local time, Latvian police had reported a total of 26 arrests, 38 misdemeanor citations and four criminal cases, according to the news outlet Delfi.

据新闻机构Delfi报道,当地时间晚上11点30分时,拉脱维亚警方共报告了26起逮捕、38起轻罪引用和四起刑事案件。

While most of the cases were recorded in Riga, the capital, multiple arrests also took place in Daugavpils. In one incident, a senior citizen described as “looking too young to be a veteran of WWII” showed up wearing a jacket with Soviet medals. When police told him to take it off, he resisted arrest.

虽然大多数案件记录在首都里加,但多次逮捕也发生在道加瓦皮尔斯。在一起事件中,一位被描述为“看起来太年轻,不可能是二战老兵”的老年人穿着带有苏联奖章的夹克出现了。当警察要求他脱下夹克时,他拒绝被逮捕。

Five people were arrested for laying flowers with “symbols of military aggression” at the Freedom Monument in the Daugavpils Victory Park. They were charged with “public use of symbols glorifying militaristic aggression and war crimes.” In the same park, police forced a man in a wheelchair to remove his jacket because it was emblazoned with “Russia.”
Vīrieti ratiņkrēslā ietērpuši vējjakā ar uzrakstu “Russiaa” un ģērboni uz rokas. Policija liek novilkt. Vīrietis pats nerunā, viņu atvedušie saka, ka neredz problēmu. Pēc mirkļa vējjaku tomēr novelk un ieloka krēslā. pic.twitter.com/YvkdEPFflu

在道加瓦皮尔斯胜利公园,有五人因在“象征军事侵略”的自由纪念碑上摆放花束而被捕。他们被指控“公开使用赞扬军事侵略和战争罪行的象征”。在同一公园,警方强迫一个坐在轮椅上的男子脱掉他的夹克,因为夹克上印有“俄罗斯”。

Two Russian-speaking men were detained at Dubrovinsky Park in Daugavpils after giving an interview to local channel TV3. Their offense was allegedly expressing the opinion that fascists had returned to power in Ukraine, with EU support.

在道加瓦皮尔斯的杜布罗文斯基公园,有两名讲俄语的男子在接受当地电视频道TV3采访时被拘留。他们的罪行据说是表达了一个观点,即法西斯主义者已经通过欧盟的支持重返乌克兰。

Last month, the Latvian parliament banned Victory Day celebrations as “belittling and undermining the values ​​of Latvia as a democratic and national state, including the division of society, the glorification of war, military aggression and totalitarianism, as well as a false interpretation of historical events.”

上个月,拉脱维亚议会禁止庆祝胜利日,称其为“轻视和削弱拉脱维亚作为民主和国家的价值观,包括社会分裂、战争、军事侵略、极权主义以及对历史事件的错误解释”。

Latvians nonetheless turned out in droves to lay flowers at cemeteries and memorials. Most of the arrests and citations involved placing flowers at “prohibited places,” where Soviet monuments once stood before the government in Riga had them destroyed.

尽管如此,拉脱维亚人仍然大量前往墓地和纪念碑献花。大部分逮捕和引用都涉及在“被禁止的地方”放置花束,这些地方曾经是苏联纪念碑所在地,但在里加政府摧毁它们之前。

Along with its Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia joined the EU and NATO in 2004. About a quarter of its 1.8 million residents are Russian-speakers, who often face discrimination. The Baltic states used to be part of the Russian Empire until 1918, and of the Soviet unx in 1940-41, and again between 1945 and 1991. The Baltic republics have insisted that the Soviet period amounted to illegal occupation, and have glorified those who collaborated with Nazi Germany as patriots.

与波罗的海邻国爱沙尼亚和立陶宛一样,拉脱维亚于2004年加入了欧盟和北约。其180万居民中约有四分之一为讲俄语的人,他们经常面临歧视。波罗的海国家曾经是俄罗斯帝国的一部分,直到1918年,又在1940-41年和1945年至1991年间成为苏联的一部分。波罗的海共和国坚称,苏联时期构成非法占领,并将与纳粹德国合作的人视为爱国者。