The Security Police stopped the criminal proceedings against the chairman of the Socialist Party of Latvia (SPL), member of the European Parliament Alfred Rubiks for his statements about the repressions of 1949. Apollo reports this with reference to the LETA agency.

As the police noted, Rubiks’ statements “did not correspond to historical facts” and were provocative in nature, but did not go beyond the scope of the right to freedom of speech.

The process began in July 2013 under the Criminal Code article on justification of crimes against humanity (it provides for punishment of up to five years in prison or a fine). A complaint about Rubiks’s statements was filed with the prosecutor’s office by a teacher at the University of Latvia, Martins Kaprans.

The reason for the proceedings was the comment of the leader of the socialists in an interview with the LNT television company, in particular, his words that the deportations of 1949 cannot be assessed unambiguously. “Many were deservedly repressed because they collaborated with the fascists,” Rubiks noted then. In addition, he rejected the fact of the Soviet “occupation” of Latvia (we are talking about assessments of the period during which it was part of the Soviet Union), stating that the republic’s accession to the USSR was no less voluntary than joining the European Union.

Rubiks later confirmed that he did not intend to retract his words. “The deportations were carried out not by someone who came out of the forest, but by official bodies based on laws,” he emphasized.

In March 1949, the Soviet leadership organized the forced relocation of part of the civilian population of the Baltic countries to the regions of Siberia and the Far East. Kulaks (wealthy peasants) with their families, families of bandits and nationalists in an illegal situation, those killed in armed clashes and those convicted were subject to deportation. More than 42 thousand people, mostly rural residents, were evicted from Latvia at that time.

Alfred Rubiks formerly served as chairman of the Riga City Executive Committee, was a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia. In 1991, he headed the Latvian State of Emergency Committee, was arrested, accused of organizing a coup d'etat and sentenced to eight years in prison. He spent six years in prison, after his release he was actively involved in political activities. In June 2009, he was elected to the European Parliament from the Harmony Center.

Latvian socialist was forgiven for justifying Soviet deportations