The founder of the human rights group 'Helsinki-86' Linards Grantiņš has appealed the verdict of the Riga District Court, which found him guilty of inciting hatred and another crime and sentenced him to a fine of €10,000, according to data from the judicial information system, LETA reports.
The case is currently in the Supreme Court, but a hearing date has not yet been set.
It was previously reported that Grantiņš was charged with inciting national hatred on the website he created www.tautastribunals.eu. He is accused under two articles of the Criminal Law — for inciting national hatred and for public calls directed against Latvia.
Grantiņš's former lawyer Pavel Rebenok previously told the LETA agency that his client does not deny posting publications online, but does not acknowledge that they contain calls for violence. The lawyer refused to disclose the details of the charges but confirmed that they are based on a number of articles published on the tautastribunals.eu website.
During the investigation by the Security Police (SP), experts from the Ombudsman's Office and the public policy center Providus concluded that Grantiņš's publications — a German citizen of Latvian descent — contain elements that contribute to inciting hatred.
After being released from custody, Grantiņš went to Germany for treatment.
On August 24, 2015, the prosecutor charged Grantiņš with inciting national, ethnic, and racial hatred using an automated data processing system.
The SP initiated a criminal process in 2012. On July 24, 2015, Grantiņš was detained in Latvia by a court decision, which had previously chosen a measure of detention in the form of custody at the request of the SP in 2014 as part of the case initiated in 2012.
Later, the Riga City Court ruled to release Grantiņš from custody on bail. According to the court's decision, the bail amount was €5,000 — it was paid, and Grantiņš was released.
Living in Germany, Grantiņš created the website www.tautastribunals.eu. He called himself the chairman of the People's Tribunal of the Republic of Latvia and regularly published insults and criticisms of Latvian politicians and officials on the site. He had previously stated that he issued death sentences to various Latvian officials and politicians.
In June 2015, a statement was posted on the website in which Grantiņš wrote that he had returned to his homeland despite threats from the ruling "clique."
"They are trying to drag me out of my temporary country of residence to judge me for crimes of the 'Atmoda' era. The clique of May 4, like Putin, suffers greatly from the collapse of the USSR. Arrest and judge me! I wish you success, miserable traitors of the people! Don’t miss this opportunity! If you don’t do this with me, I will do it with you. I will take you to the gallows by all laws with a UN mandate in my pocket! And not only you, but also your families, who together with you devoured and continue to devour what was stolen from the people!" he wrote.
The group 'Helsinki-86' was established in June 1986 in Liepāja by Linards Grantiņš, Raimonds Bitenieks, and Mārtiņš Bariss with the aim of monitoring the observance of the economic, cultural, and individual rights of the Latvian people. A protest petition against the Soviet authorities was sent abroad, as well as documents on the establishment of 'Helsinki-86', which caused a wide resonance.
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