RIGA (AFP)--- A Latvian court Friday upheld a ban on a controversial march next week by Latvians who fought the Soviet Union in a Nazi unit during World War II, as well as a protest by counter-demonstrators.
The Riga administrative court announced it had rejected appeals by both rallies' organisers against a decision by municipal authorities, which are anxious to reduce the risk of trouble in the capital after anti-government riots in January fuelled by Latvia's economic slump.
Veterans of the Latvian Legion, a force that was part of the Nazi German Waffen SS, plus their relatives and supporters hold an annual commemoration on March 16.
The event draws protests from Moscow and members of Latvia's ethnic-Russian minority, who see it as an affront to the memory of soldiers who fought the Nazis.
Veterans and their supporters insist the Legion simply fought for Latvia's freedom against the Soviets.
Latvia was occupied by Soviet forces at the start of World War II under a 1939 pact with Nazi Germany.
After the alliance broke down in 1941, the Nazis pushed the Red Army out.
They were welcomed by some Latvians as liberators because they ended the brutal Soviet occupation, but brought their own terror, killing 70,000 of the country's 85,000 Jews, sometimes helped by Latvian collaborators.
The Red Army drove out the Nazis at the end of World War II and Latvia became a Soviet republic until the communist bloc collapsed in 1991.
Around 146,000 Latvians fought in the Legion, a mixture of volunteers and
men drafted by the Nazis. Some 52,000 died in combat or later in Soviet camps.
Another 130,000 Latvians fought in the Red Army. Around 36,000 died, many
in battles with their Legion countrymen.
In 1998, Latvia's parliament declared March 16 Legionnaires' Day, marking
the date in 1944 when a battle helped stalled the Soviet takeover.
Two years later, lawmakers decided approving an official commemoration was wrong and struck it off the calendar, but many veterans and their supporters
still mark it as an informal holiday.
For several years, the event saw scuffles between marchers and counter-demonstrators and dozens of arrests.
In 2007 and 2008, however, a heavy police operation kept the two sides apart.