Impious behavior at memorial sites is not infrequent. The Holocaust memorial in Berlin had hardly been open a month when reports of children playing and lovers kissing among the pylons made the news. A report from this week's Baltic Times takes the cake, however: Apparently, more and more British nationals (presumably drunken male tourists) are getting caught peeing on the Freedom Monument in downtown Riga. For the first time the regional court handed down jail time to a British citizen: five days of administrative arrest. The problem has drawn comment from local politicians all the way up to the interior minister.

In the most recent case, the defendent claimed that he was not peeing, but just happened to be running around the statue when his pants fell down. His obviousely false testimony contributed to the decision to not give him the usual fine of 50 lats (about 70 Euros).

For my part, I am having difficulty understanding why anyone would relieve themselves directly on the monument unless they are blind drunk or actually intend to desecrate it. It is flanked on two sides by parks which offer much better opportunities. In addition, all the downtown bars and outdoor restaurants and cafes have facilities, some of them less than two blocks from the site.