The Riga City Court sentenced two men to prison terms for inciting hatred against Latvians on a trolleybus and for assaulting a woman, reports the prosecutor's office, writes LETA.
According to the prosecutor's office, in July of this year, the defendants were on trolleybus No. 15, traveling from Kengarags to the city center, where other passengers were also present. The defendants loudly expressed offensive and hostile remarks towards people of Latvian nationality.
When two female passengers exited the trolleybus at a stop, both defendants followed them, which the women perceived as a real threat to their safety and lives.
On the street, one of the defendants approached one of the women from behind and struck her on the head, while the second attempted to snatch her bag from her hands.
Continuing the pursuit, the second defendant also hit the woman on the head and pulled her hair. Additionally, angered by the fact that the woman called the emergency services at the unified number 112, he deliberately damaged her mobile phone.
The men were charged with actions as part of a group aimed at inciting national hatred and hostility, involving the use of violence and threats, and one of them was also charged with intentional damage to another's property.
Considering the severity and public danger of the crimes, as well as the personalities of the defendants and the fact that they fully admitted their guilt and cooperated, the prosecutor of the Eastern Riga prosecutor's office reached a plea agreement with each of the defendants regarding their admission of guilt and punishment. The court decided to approve these agreements.
Accordingly, one of the men was sentenced to one year of imprisonment with probation supervision for one and a half years, while the other was sentenced to two years of imprisonment with probation supervision for one and a half years.
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