Several hundred teenagers braved the regime to gather in the Congress Palace square, and protest against a current educational reform. "No to reform!" and "Let Russian schools be!" they were reciting. The national television described the rally as "peaceable and well-wishing".
Recent Education Law amendments drastically cut academic hours for disciplines taught in Russian, as of September 1, start of the next academic year.
Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga discerns Moscow's hand behind the public protest, she said in this morning's public address.
The rally crowned a school strike, in which students were abstaining from classes for the two preceding days. The action was getting ever more aggressive, said Janis Reiniks, security police chief, to explain the ban. Rank-and-file policemen, on the other hand, were impressed with quietude and smooth organization of the protest events.
The strike, which involved several thousand students of schools with Russian for tuition language, was arranged by an HQ for Russian School Defense. As police announced today, it intends to bring a suit against HQ activists.
Riga's Central district court fined city councilor Alexander Dilman 80 lats, or $150, today. He had applied for Russian language school defense demonstrations of February 5 and 11, which hindered city traffic.
