The ruling of the Administrative District Court, which recognized the dismissal of the border guard for the comment in Russian "Russians do not surrender" as justified, has come into effect.
The Supreme Court reported that it upheld the decision of the Administrative District Court, which found that the State Border Guard had reasonably applied disciplinary action against the applicant and dismissed him from service due to established disciplinary violations.
The Supreme Court recognized that the Administrative District Court properly assessed the evidence and established that the applicant, while performing a border guard assignment, independently took several photographs and videos on his mobile phone, which captured the dismantling of a monument glorifying the Soviet regime, thereby committing actions unrelated to the official task and jeopardizing the execution of that task.
The Administrative District Court also correctly assessed the proportionality of the disciplinary action taken, as the circumstances of the case indicate that the applicant expressed a comment in Russian in the recorded video stating "Russians do not surrender," and also shared this recording in an online discussion group intended for border guards, from where it subsequently entered the public internet space and the media of the aggressor countries.
The court reminds that every border guard, especially in the current geopolitical conditions, must carefully consider their statements, behave in a manner that does not harm the reputation of the State Border Guard, and act ethically and in accordance with the values of public administration.
Although this comment may be interpreted in different ways, as it is not entirely clear whether it describes the work process or expresses support for Russia's aggression, the applicant should have been aware that such a statement could raise doubts in society about both his personality and the values and reliability of the entire border guard service, which cannot be outweighed by the applicant's positive characteristics and his official activities, the court emphasized, adding that therefore the disciplinary action imposed by the agency due to the loss of trust in the applicant was reasonably deemed proportional, and there are no grounds for overturning the contested decision.
As previously reported, on October 26, 2022, the border guard was sent with a service dog to observe the dismantling of the monument and to monitor compliance with the border and border zone.
The LETA agency archive indicates that on that day, a Soviet monument to "Partisans of the Great Patriotic War" was dismantled in Balvi.
During the assignment, the border guard photographed and filmed on his mobile phone, which was unrelated to the execution of the task. Furthermore, he acted in violation of the fundamental principles of official ethics and the values of public administration by expressing an ambiguous comment in Russian, "Russians do not surrender," during the dismantling of the monument glorifying the Soviet regime, and by showing other officials his photographs and video recording with the stated comment.
The Border Guard Service points out that the expression "Russians do not surrender" is not a random combination of everyday words, and this can be confirmed in the public space, where this slogan is used in Latvia by a certain part of society, protesting against various events in life, as well as gathering at commemorative events.
The phrase "Russians do not surrender" is a centuries-old slogan of the Russian army.
The official was dismissed from service on December 1, 2022. The dismissed border guard requested a review of the decision; however, the higher official upheld the decision. After that, the former official went to court and requested to overturn the decision.
The dismissed border guard stated in court that while filming the dismantling work and uttering the words "Russians do not surrender," he was only thinking about the dismantling of the plaque and did not do so with any other purpose or intent, and his actions were not related to supporting Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
