The Senate's Department of Criminal Cases has refused to initiate cassation proceedings in a case involving a woman accused of glorifying a crime against peace. Accordingly, the judgment of the Vidzeme Regional Court sentencing the woman to one year's imprisonment has entered into force.

The factual circumstances of the case show that on 26 February 2022, the defendant arrived at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Latvia, where a picket against the Russian invasion of Ukraine was taking place, and displayed a poster on which it was written in Russian "Russia, I'm with you!".  The court of appeal, having assessed the defendant's purposeful actions and statements at the picket outside the Embassy of the Russian Federation, found that she had purposefully expressed support for the aggression and invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

The court of first instance had sentenced the defendant to a one-year suspended prison sentence, but the court of appeal ruled that the provision of the Criminal Law providing for the suspended sentence did not apply.

The decision of the Senate states that the arguments of the cassation complaint are aimed at seeking the annulment of the decision of the court of appeal not on legal grounds but on factual grounds, which are contrary to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law.

Case No SKK-200/2025 (11840001122)

 

Kārlis Arājs
Communication adviser of the Supreme Court
Telephone: +371 67020302
E-mail: karlis.arajs@at.gov.lv