RIGA, Dec 18 (LETA) - The Administrative District Court has banned the nongovernmental group Public Guards of the Constitution from staging a picket against Covid-19 restrictions this Saturday, explaining the decision with the rights of other people to health, LETA learned from the court's representative Ieva Neimane.

The local government of Latvia's northern border town of Valka on December 16 decided to ban the protest event. The organization then decided to contest this decision at court.

The court considered the Valka county council decision and information submitted by the State Police, pointing at high probability that the restriction of 25 people allowed to participate in the protest might not be met. Also the court reviewed the situation in Riga on December 12 when a number of administrative cases were launched after two protest meetings.

The court recognized the organization's rights to assembly and voice the opinion, but concluded that the organization can achieve this goal efficiently in a way that does not pose threat to public health, for example, in virtual environment.

The organizers had named Valka as the location for their protest in which participants from nearby regions of Latvia and Estonia would drive their automobiles to the Latvian border town to protest Covid-19 restrictions.