On May 20, 2022, a march and concert "For liberation from the Soviet legacy" took place in Pārdaugava. After the event, Lazarevs, born in 1984, was driving a BMW on Eduarda Smiļģa Street, not far away. He stopped the car and caused bodily harm to a young man born in 2003, who was wearing a Ukrainian flag around his shoulders.
Anastasija Cvirko, a State Police officer, was in the car next to the attacker and did nothing to prevent the crime. She is currently dismissed from the police service.
Lazarevs was initially given 200 hours of community service by the prosecutor's office last summer for assaulting the young man. However, the youth's lawyer appealed the prosecutor's decision. The Riga City Court subsequently found Lazarev guilty but only gave him a suspended prison sentence of two years. However, the young man appealed and the case had to be heard by the Regional Court.
The District Court, hearing the appeal, imposed a real prison sentence. This too was appealed to the Supreme Court, but the Court refused to initiate cassation proceedings.
