Thousands of People Rally in Riga to Support Mayor Usakovs - Organizers
Several thousand people have gathered on Saturday at a rally at the Town Hall Square in the Latvian capital of Riga to support Mayor Nils Usakovs, whose house was searched by a local anti-corruption authority in late January, a member of Social Democratic Party Harmony, which organized the rally, told Sputnik
"According to our data, there are several thousand people there," the member of the party said.
The atmosphere at the rally was peaceful, with protesters holding posters and Latvian flags and beating drums.
"This is a rally against those who are only able to do damage. My aim is to do everything so that Riga citizens do not fall victim to this dirty policy, so that Riga's council continues working and correcting previously committed mistakes. Only thanks to your support Riga's council will be able to continue fulfilling tasks that it has undertaken. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your support. Thank you to Harmony for organizing this rally," Usakovs said.
He apologized for the mistakes that he had committed over the ten years in office, stressing that these mistakes did not include any illegal action.
Usakovs said that he was proud of being an ethnic Russian.
"I will always protect Latvians and Russians and fight for them because they are my family ... We have proven to everyone that Latvians and non-Latvians can work together in Riga for the sake of their home city ... One can call us Kremlin agents or traitors of Russians' interests, humiliate us, but Harmony will never give up on its mission fighting for peace between Latvians and non-Latvians." the mayor added.
As a source told Sputnik, searches in Usakovs' house were linked to a corruption case at municipal public transport firm Rigas satiksme, overseen by the administration. Soon after the searches, several experts suggested that Usakovs could leave his post in order to run in elections to the European Parliament, slated for May. However, Usakovs claims that he is not going to resign.