Data inspectorate goes after Penguin Movement

The Latvian Data State Inspectorate has summoned the administrator of the website of the so-called Penguin Movement to explain what it claims were violations of laws and regulations with regard to handling and protecting personal data.

The claims related to several articles by the journalist and commentator Māris Zanders, where he allegorically and indirectly hinted at the mobile phone numbers and home locations of several Latvian politicians. The idea was that these unnamed persons with indirectly described numbers and addresses could get calls, text messages or "visits" by citizens wishing to express their dissatisfaction (or praise, you never know) of the policies and behavior  of the Latvian political elite.

The administrator of www.pingviniem.info, known by his first name Atis, has been asked to explain these articles in person at the Inspectorate on March 26.  Details of the letter to Atis (in Latvian) can be found here.  This summons could be considered the first serious attempt to harass the Penguins.

The Penguin Movement is an informal network of persons who support non-violent protests and direct action against what they see as an insensitive, arrogant and corrupt ruling elite in Latvia. It derives its name from a statement by former Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis in a New Year's Eve address that in cold weather (the present economic recession) the penguins (ordinary Latvian citizens) should huddle together. 

My advice -- move the website to a US or other foreign hosting location which values freedom of speech (especially concerning public figures) above so-called data security issues. 

Penguins signal that civil disobedience may be next

The informal, non-violent protest and resistance movement in Latvia known as The Penguins* is contemplating civil disobedience and the arrest of movement volunteers. This was discussed at a recent meeting of Penguin supporters in a Riga bar and restaurant. The discussion was led by journalist and commentator Māris Zanders, a "non-leader" of the Penguins, who asked "who is willing to do five days?" (a hypothetical jail sentence for possible misdemeanors related to obstructing buildings or disobeying and "resisting" police) with several of those present indicating they would do so.
The Penguins also discussed, in broad terms, the necessity for organizing a legal aid team to defend those eventually arrested as well as to gain maximum international publicity for those who may become Latvia's first political prisoners since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Penguins want to resist, by all non-violent means, the present government, which they see as corrupt, incompetent and deaf to its electorate. Their immediate goal is to have the government resign and to dissolve the Latvian parliament or Saeima and hold new elections. Many, however, are skeptical of whether new elections will improve the quality of governance in Latvia. In the long term, the Penguins want to see clean, efficient government, although the discussion on February 18 revealed considerable differences in long-term goals and visions.
A few representatives of the youth nationalist "All For Latvia" (Visu Latvija) party came to the Penguins' discussion. Their goal is to try to get elected in the next Saeima elections (whether snap elections in the next few months or at the end of the present term in 2010). One speaker said he wanted constitutional reform that would exclude "party politics" -- harking back to the authoritarian regime of President Kārlis Ulmanis after 1934.
Another speaker said the most pressing goal was to stop the plundering of the nation and to avoid the great debt burden that would be imposed by the ongoing 7.5 billion EUR package (from various international sources) to bolster Latvia's government finances and the banking system.
Zanders warned that regardless of what the Penguins do, he foresaw likely civil unrest in coming months as the weather gets warmer and the first of a wave of unemployed exhaust their unemployment benefits.
My take on this: The Penguins urgently need international legal, human rights and media contacts to prepare for any eventuality. Several lawyers and a man claiming to be a veteran police officer said that the treatment of persons engaged in civil disobedience, even if this was clearly stated, could be much harsher than in western democracies. One lawyer said Latvian courts and law enforcement structures still bore a heavy Soviet/totalitarian legacy and would not know how to handle "political"cases.
One solution is to have both international human rights lawyers and media ready to intervene and cover the detention and trial of persons engaged in civil disobedience. This would make Latvia less likely to violate human rights and diverge from European best practices in dealing with such forms of (technically illegal) protest.
* the term comes from Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis' New Year's Eve speech, where he said that in hard times, the penguins huddle together.

The Penguins come bearing gifts

The Penguin Movement staged a peaceful and successful stroll-in by the Latvian parliament, the Saeima. leaving a small pile of gifts for the esteemed parliamentarians. Some, including an MP with whom I am friendly (his wife was a professionally important PR person a few years back and was/still is a nice lady), were not too happy with this, sensing the undertone of mockery. This gentlement, Mr.L (my Latvian readers know who) is said to have told a man offering his gift that " I don't take beggar's alms" and then whispered Fuck Off!
Maybe he should listen to his wife about good PR :)
Here is the video:

Penguins to gather at Latvian Parliament

The informal, non-violent extra-parliamentary opposition movement known as "The Penguins" will stage a "spontaneous" strolling action near the Latvian parliament or Saeima on Wednesday, February 4 at 3 PM local time. The action will coincide with an emergency meeting of the Saeima to take up a vote of non-confidence in the coalition government of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis. The vote is not expected to succeed.
Internet sites have been urging penguin sympathizers to bring gifts (used clothing, soap, curios, and the like)for parliamentarians or to decorate nearby tree branches with patriotic ribbons.
It remains to be seen whether the police, who have been on high alert in the wake of farmer protests on February 3, will attempt to seal off the area around the Saeima building. On January 17, a few days after rioters stoned the Saeima and broke a number of windows, police sealed off the area with steel barriers ahead of an unsanctioned demonstration by the tiny "Action Party" (Rīcības Partija). Journalists and TV crews outnumbered a few party activists at that gathering.
During the farmers' protest, in which columns of tractors drove into Riga and onto bypass highways near the capital, a large number of police vans, equipped for possible riot duty (windows were covered with screens) and elements of the elite Alpha riot control and special operations unit were seen near one street crossing where highway police stopped a convoy of around 25 tractors.
The Penguin movement takes its name from a remark by the Prime Minister in a New Year's eve address to the nation that in cold times, penguins huddle close together.

First "penguin" action coming after February 2

NOTE: EDITED TO MAKE CLEAR THAT THE DATE AND TIME ARE VAGUE

The informal non-parliamentary opposition movement known as "The Penguins" (pingvīni) will hold its first action next week, February 2 at the earliest. When and where is still unknown, making this more of a spontaneous "flash" action than the "flashmob" action planned by the Latvian Parliament on January 30 to support Latvian public radio.

The Penguin action will apparently involve a select group of persons committed to non-violent (but possibly disruptive and disobedient) protest gathering to confront one or more government ministers or politicians. Map coordinates hinting that certain political figures may live along "strolling routes" have already been published on the Penguin's website/blog (in Latvian only). No name have been mentioned, making it difficult for anyone to accuse the informal political movement of incitement to harrass individuals or disrupt government activities.

It has been noted in the Penguin blog that flower-laying ceremonies (a part of foreign official visitor protocol) at the Freedom Monument where government ministers join their foreign guests could be an opportunity to express shame and disgust toward the Latvian ministers (not the foreign visitors, but obviously generating considerable publicity).