Prosecutors in Riga, Latvia have charged two skinheads with a hate crime, according to an August 26, 2006 article in the local Russian language newspaper Chas. On the afternoon of July 10, 2006 the neo-Nazis (aged 23 and 28) attacked an African man near his home, smashing a bottle over his head and kicking him. A bystander chased the attackers off and helped the victim identify the skinheads to the police.

The victim, a foreign language teacher, has long-standing ties to Latvia, having lived there for 15 years and married a local woman. The article added that this is the third racist attack to take place this year and quoted the leader of a Latvian-African organization—Christopher Ejugbo—saying that: “Earlier, such attacks didn’t take place, racism was thought to be indecent. But now it’s like a wave. They attack in the middle of the day and hunt people near their homes. It looks like they may have the addresses of Africans.” He added that Africans often encounter skinheads on the streets of the old city who insult and threaten them.

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