Child beaten in Valmiera — police refuse to open criminal case
State police have not opened a criminal case following a brutal assault by a group of teenagers in Valmiera. The Prosecutor's Office intervened after a television programme.
Boy beaten in Valmiera — police referred case to administrative commission
Following a group assault incident in Valmiera in which several teenagers brutally beat and humiliated a peer, State police have not opened a criminal case, according to nra.lv, citing the "Without Taboo" programme.
The incident occurred in the first half of last summer. The group of attackers not only beat the victim but also filmed the incident and distributed the video on social media. An even larger crowd of teenagers chanted and incited the perpetrators.
The victim's mother and her lawyer told the programme that police had refused to open a criminal case, basing their decision on the grounds that the child had not sustained any significant injuries. The injured party disagrees: the blows were merciless, and only by good fortune the boy did not suffer serious physical trauma.
The boy's relatives emphasise that the child has suffered serious emotional trauma — he avoids social contact, is afraid to go to school, and his school performance has deteriorated. Meanwhile, at least some of the attackers continue to behave without restraint in Valmiera: when the boy's relatives encounter them on the street, they mock them and make offensive remarks, according to the mother.
Without opening a criminal case, police referred the cases against each attacker individually for consideration by the Valmiera Municipality Administrative Commission.
The "Without Taboo" programme approached the Prosecutor's Office. The Prosecutor General of the Vidzeme Prosecutor's Office, to whom the questions were addressed, following the programme's involvement instructed State police to open a criminal case.
Source: Google News LV — Crime (lv)