SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER DENOUNCES THE MARCH OF WAFFEN SS IN LATVIA

RIA Novosti ^ | March 17 | Ratmir Orestov

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TEL AVIV, March 17 (RIA Novosti, Ratmir Orestov) - The Simon Wiesenthal Center has denounced the march of veterans of Waffen SS in Latvia.

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Israeli branch of the Center, issued a statement pointing to the inadmissibility of praising those who fought on the side of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that some segments of Latvian society still regards those who exterminated Jews or simply fought on the side of Nazis as heroes, while these people do not deserve any praise, Dr. Zuroff writes.

Latvia is paying for its unwillingness to persecute Latvian Nazis as military criminals. This stand will hang over Latvian society as a nightmare for many years, the statement runs.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center was set up in 1977 to search for Nazi criminals, fight neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism, and to study the history of the genocide of European Jews. It is accredited as a non-governmental organization with the UN and UNESCO.

A RIA Novosti correspondent in Riga reported that all participants in the anti-fascist picket arrested on Wednesday morning during the march of Waffen SS in the Latvian capital have been released. "The 30 persons may be fined if the court adopts a decision to this effect," RIA Novosti was told in the 22nd department of the Riga police.

One of them, who threw rotten eggs at the former legionaries and their supporters, may get more serious punishment. If his action is regarded as an act of hooliganism, he may be given a suspended sentence.

On Wednesday morning, the Latvian police detained 30 participants in the anti-fascist demonstration held simultaneously with the march of the former Waffen SS in Riga. Some of the detainees are deputies of the Riga City Duma and Gennady Kotov, a former candidate for the post of Riga mayor from the association For Human Rights in United Latvia.