Replacing on-site lectures with remote learning is tolerable - it's much harder to give up parties, it seems. On the evening of Tuesday, January 26, Riga Municipal Police received a call to a building on Blaumaņa Street, where neighbors complained about loud music. It was not difficult to find the right apartment, because the music was heard in the courtyard. The door of the apartment was opened to the police only after a while of knocking.
“At the moment the police entered the apartment, many of the partygoers were hiding – under the bed, in the closet. The table covered in bottles of alcohol undoubtedly indicated that there were more people than visible at first,” said Riga Municipal Police spokesman Toms Sadovskis.
When they realized they couldn't hide, they tried to sneak away as if nothing had happened. But the plan failed.
Documents revealed that the students were on exchange at Turība University from France and Italy. They tried to claim they hadn't known anything about the assembly restrictions. Each was facing a penalty of €500 but, seeing the desperation of the students, the police cut the fine to €300 each. According to the local government police, despite the harsh punishments, different house parties are ongoing.
“On New Year's there were even fewer than a couple of weekends later,” Sadovskis said.
Judging from the social media of students caught in Blaumaņa Street – fun parties also take place in dormitories during assembly restrictions. The Turība University promises to examine what happened, to discuss it with the students themselves and the universities from which they came.
If offenses are detected or repeated, students may lose their Erasmus exchange grant and be forced to return home.
