Riga municipal police open two cases after vegetable protest at city council

Riga municipal police have opened two administrative offence cases over Thursday’s protest in which several tonnes of vegetables were dumped at the entrance to Riga City Council, the police told the LETA news agency.

One case concerns a breach of waste management rules and the other a vehicle being driven along a shared footpath and cycle lane. An administrative offence case means the police will establish whether an offence was committed and whether a penalty should follow; no decision has been made yet.

Why the vegetables ended up at the council

The protest on the morning of 12 November was organised by Zemnieku saeima, a farmers’ association. The farmers object to a €26.8 million municipal tender for meals at 27 schools and kindergartens that allows food to be delivered from up to 300 kilometres beyond the Riga city boundary. The association says the radius gives Latvian farms no advantage, and a second tender, for meals at 101 schools and kindergartens, is expected soon.

Mārtiņš Trons, a board member of the association, said November was a month of patriotism and the farmers wanted to remind councillors that support for local producers had to be shown in deeds.