A 28-year-old Pennsylvania resident is scheduled to be sentenced in April for vandalizing a painting by Latvian-American artist Vija Celmiņš reportedly worth USD 1.2 million.

Timur Serebrykov of Greenfield, Pa., pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to one charge of institutional vandalism, according to records of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. He had been accused in the May 16 incident in which he used a key to rip the painting, Night Sky #12.

Serebrykov at the time was a security guard in the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, where the painting was on display as part of the 55th Carnegie International. At the time of his arrest, according to media reports, Serebrykov admitted to damaging the painting because he did not like it.

The oil on canvas painting, part of Celmiņš’ “Night Sky” series, depicts a field of stars against a black background. It was on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago. It was painted from 1995-1996, according to the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Serebrykov, an immigrant from Azerbaijan, is to be sentenced April 7.

Rīga city officials have denied a permit for a demonstration planned just four days after a small riot in the city’s Old Town district near the parliament building.

The demonstration’s organizers, the Action Party (Rīcības party, formerly known as the Eiroskeptiķi), announced on their Web site that they will appeal the Jan. 15 decision of the Rīga City Council’s commission in charge of meetings, parades and pickets.

The permit was denied based on suggestions from law enforcement officials, according to a press release from the city council. Organizers were asked to reschedule the demonstration by a few weeks, but they declined.

Following a peaceful Jan. 13 demonstration in the Dome Square attended by an estimated 10,000 protesters, unrest broke out by the nearby Saeima building and then spread to Smilšu Street. Windows in several businesses and government buildings were smashed by rioters, a liquor store was looted and several police vehicles were damaged. More than 100 people were arrested and several dozen injured.

The large-scale demonstration had been called by the political party Sabiedrība citai politikai to demand that President Valdis Zatlers dismiss the parliament.

The Action Party wanted to organize a Jan. 17 demonstration at the Saeima and then march to the Castle of Rīga, the president’s official residence. The party is calling on the government of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis to step down.

The Rīga city commission also reviewed an application for a Jan. 22 assembly at the Saeima building planned by the Latvian Student Association (Latvijas Studentu apvienība), but the association withdrew its application after meeting with city officials, according to the press release.

Meanwhile, the anticorruption watchdog group Delna, the European Movement-Latvia and other organizations plan to stage a Jan. 16 action by the Freedom Monument in downtown Rīga to condemn the vandalism of Jan. 13 but to press for basic democratic values. Participants are asked to wear white ribbons to symbolize empathy for the action, which is titled “Ieklausies! Es esmu Latvija” (Listen up! I am Latvia!), according to a press release from Delna.

In the aftermath of the Jan. 13 riot in the heart of Rīga, President Valdis Zatlers has issued an ultimatum to the parliament: Pass a constitutional amendment allowing for the popular recall of the Saeima, or he will call for its dissolution.

Zatlers, in a Jan. 14 press conference, gave the Saeima until March 31.

The president’s response to the previous night’s unrest in Rīga’s Old Town district came after his return from a European Parliament meeting in France and after consultations with Latvian government and police officials.

While he condemned the unrest, Zatlers also said it is evidence of how low the public’s confidence in the government has sunk.

“Both the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers have lost contact with the voters,” he said during the press conference. “I have already several times pointed out that trust can only be regained with specific actions.” Among those, he added, are amending the constitution to allow for the popular recall, work on an economic stimulus plan and government reform.

By midday Jan. 14 much of the damage from the riot had been cleaned up, Latvians Online observed. Businesses and government offices along Smilšu Street were particularly hard hit, including a Latvijas Balzams liquor store that was looted.

Along Jēkaba Street, a work crew was busy repairing windows at the Latvian National Library’s Letonika Division. The building was closed to patrons, a sign in Latvian and English telling visitors that windows and computers were damaged by rioters.

The Saeima building by midday showed little outward damage. Broken window panes had been replaced, but pockmarks from bricks thrown at the building the night before were still visible. Local and military police patrolled the area on foot.

The rioting began about 7 p.m. Jan. 13 after the close of a peaceful demonstration that drew an estimated 10,000 protesters to the Dome Square. The demonstration was organized by the political party Sabiedrība citai politikai to call on the president to release the Saeima.

Under the Latvian constitution, the president can initiate dismissal of the parliament. A national referendum then must be held. If it passes, the Saeima is dissolved and an election for a new parliament is organized. But if the referendum fails, the president must step down and the parliament chooses a new chief of state.

In his Jan. 14 press conference, Zatlers gave the parliament and the government three assignments:

• Pass amendments to the constitution that allow for the popular recall of the Saeima. He said he would present a bill to the Saeima within a week.
• Change the election law to address two specific problems. First, because Latvians can vote for just one party’s list of candidates, the “locomotive problem” allows a few well-known politicians to pull into parliament deputies who are not known by voters. Second, 10 percent of the Saeima’s 100 deputies are no longer members of the parties from which they were elected, resulting in parties being represented that did not stand in the last election.
• The Saeima as quickly as possible must create a board to oversee Latvia’s economic development plan and the EUR 7.5 billion in loans the country is getting from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and others.

Zatlers said he also wants the Cabinet of Ministers to present a clear government reorganization plan in one to two weeks.

“Only with these specific assignments can we calm the public and give it a little bit of hope that the process in the country is headed in the right direction,” the president said. “This time I am clearly stating a deadline for completion of these assignments. It is one thing to work, but something completely different to work effectively with results—to work with results demanded by the public, results that serve the public. This time the deadline is March 31.”

Meanwhile, the leader of Rīcības partija (formerly known as Eiroskeptiķi) announced his group is planning a demonstration at noon Jan. 17 at the Saeima, follwed by a march to the Castle of Rīga, which is the president’s official residence. Normunds Grostiņš, in a message on the party’s Web site, called for the government of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis to step down.