Дек 14 2011

• Resident of Tukums received threats to life and health motivated by ethnic hatred; Police initiated criminal proceedings
• Saeima might approve the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law by April

Vesti Segodnya reports that the Police in Tukums (town in the Central part of Latvia) has initiated criminal proceedings regarding threats to life and health. The threats were motivated by ethnic hatred and sent anonymously to a woman trough the social-networking website. The offender knows the place of work and residence of the woman. In the message, the woman got insulted because of her Russian ethnicity.

Neatkariga reports that the Saeima might approve the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law by April. The Citizenship Law has not been amended for 14 past years. Currently the MPs are discussing the draft amendments which allow dual citizenship for children born abroad in a family of Latvian citizen and foreigner and to those who got deprived of Latvian citizenship after receiving foreign citizenship. The MPs also discuss granting Latvian citizenship to Latvians who emigrated from the country before the restoration of independence in 1991 (at present, only those emigrants were granted Latvian citizenship who registered before 1995); and granting citizenship automatically to children born in a family of Latvian non-citizens.